The Supernovas of Mass Effect
by Blindluck92
Summary: First fic, and part of my overall Supernovas theme. Takes place in ME1, with concepts from the book Pendragon, and characters from inFAMOUS, Prototype, and Halo, among others. Much, much better than it sounds. Rated M for later chapters. If you like, I'll continue! AUTHOR'S NOTE: Completely unrelated to the Eleven Supernovas of One Piece.
1. Elysium

**AUTHOR'S NOTE 8/20/13: I should have figured this out earlier, but my story has nothing to do with Eiichiro Oda's manga series, One Piece. If you're here for the Eleven Supernovas, then I sincerely apologize. The shared title is purely coincidence. I reached the name independently and without any copyright infringement whatsoever, so please don't make a big deal about it.**

**So this is my first fic. I know you get that a lot, but hear me out. I'm a very visual person, so this is the first time putting down stories on paper after years of thinking them out, and holding onto them via photographic memory. It's a crossover like you've never seen, and it hopefully works well too.**

**I suggest being familiar with the book series **_**Pendragon**_**, and its use of "territories," if you want a clearer image of why so many freak shows are running rampant around the Mass Effect Galaxy. Trust me, it will make sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the marvelous pieces of media featured here. If I did, Bill Gates would be asking me for money. *Runs and hides from countless lawyers.* Leave me alone!**

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Chapter 1: Elysium

It doesn't make sense. Cole MacGrath, told himself for the fourth time. What was there to stop? Not only that, but why would there be a need to send a starter group of three Supernovas, when two could have been than sufficient?

_Unique Shepard wants you three to be the starter team. Shepard has made it abundantly clear that the results born from choice weren't good enough. You know better than most that better choices are why the Supernovas are used. You, Mercer, and Chief are our veteran members, so get us the results we've come to expect._

That was the end of the briefing before the flumes opened, and a Conduit, a virus, and a Spartan were dropped into their newest alternate dimension. That day had been three months ago. It wasn't all that crazy an experience anymore. This was their job, and they all loved it to some extent. Time was all but frozen back home, and they had a chance to be part of something so much bigger. In the years he spent as a Supernova, Cole had seen weird things from living viral shape-shifters and supersoldiers, to blond-haired robots and psychic guys with laser-swords.

Returning to his current worries, Cole checked the time on his (thankfully shock-resisitant) omni-tool. He knew that Mercer was returning from his reconnaissance venture into the Terminus Systems today, and he knew that Chief had arrived on shore leave. Cole snickered at the thought of Chief actually relaxing. It was his bright idea to offer his services to the Human Systems Alliance, so when he accomplished more in a month than most N7 operatives could do in a year, the brass thought he was "overworked". They were all just lucky that Cortana's efforts allowed Chief to keep his armor, and her. For some reason, AIs were taboo in this territory.

Cole, personally, had gotten a job here on Elysium, maintaining the power grid. Before he could laugh at the irony of his situation though, the electrokinetic Supernova felt a tingling in his spine. He knew by now that it meant a ship just dropped out of FTL near the planet. He looked up, but where he expected to see an Alliance vessel, in its place was a fast-approaching Batarian heavy frigate. What's worse, the tingling continued, and Cole realized that more ships were dropping out of FTL and he doubted any of them were friendly. "_Great,_" he thought.

"Looks like the job just came to us." A familiar New York accent called out. On Cole's left, stood Alex Mercer, the nigh-immortal viral powerhouse. He had the same feral grin on his face that meant he was about to enjoy killing people, and in this case aliens. Mercer had tempered his sociopathy over the years, but violence and death were his purpose in life, and nothing would change that. "You were waiting at the wrong bar, by the way. Cortana picked up their signals even before the planet's early warning system, and Chief is trying to raise the Alliance."

Cole smirked, "And until they get here we draw a line in the sand?"

"Never seems to fail." They didn't need to turn around to know who the gravel-ground voice belonged to. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Spartan John-117 stood there with an assault rifle, ready to go.

Cole sighed, then began to crackle with sheets of blue lightning covering his body. In this territory, blue sparks meant "biotics" but even the powers of an asari Matriarch were _small time_ compared to what he could do. "Cortana, what are we looking at?

"Batarians, and a lot of them. I think they want to take the Skyllian Verge." said Chief's "backseat driver".

Alex cracked his neck and his arms started to writhe around in the form of black tendrils, finally settling in the form of black organic metal claws. "Let's welcome them to Elysium then. I don't know about you, but I think we found our ticket into the galactic big leagues!"

Cole said nothing but he couldn't agree more. Splitting up had been to quietly learn more about this new territory, and now they had regrouped in time to make their presence known, loudly.

"And so we go," they all said in unison, charging directly at the Batarian invasion force.


	2. Seven Second Sythetic Synopsis

**Okay, so many of you have questions that need to be answered, and hopefully, this chapter will do just that. It's basically an exposition chapter, so if you all can make it through this necessary evil, I promise to give you glorious explosions and other heroics. Again I insist knowing enough from the **_**Pendragon**_** books to know what flumes are, what Halla is, and what is meant by the word "territory". It's for your own good. Wiki it if you feel the need. Otherwise, roll with it. Oh, before I confuse you anymore, don't search for "Uniques" or "Supernovas" in the context I'm using them, because those are terms I can legitimately claim credit for.**

**Warning: Spoilers for Halo 3, InFAMOUS, possibly Fallout, and maybe others.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fictional works used in this story.**

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Chapter 2: Seven Second Synthetic Synopsis

UNSC AI Serial Number CTN 0452-9, commonly known as "Cortana" knew she had seven seconds until Chief reached effective combat range. It was just enough time to, again, reflect on how she and her partner became caught up in such an insane scenario. By rights, they should both be floating through the back half of the _Forward Unto Dawn_, with no hope of rescue.

Technically, they still were, just not at this moment. Cortana, for all her brilliance couldn't even begin to explain the logic behind Halla's inner workings, as it defied everything known about quantum and string theory, yet also validated them both. Countless realities existed, and she had seen many of them with the Chief. A post-apocalyptic wasteland, a ruined city at the bottom of the Atlantic, but the one that took the cake was the territory with non-hostile aliens and psychic warriors with laser-swords (**A/N Internet cake for anyone who can name all three)**. It didn't seem possible to have experienced so much, but time was apparently rather malleable when you joined the Supernovas. No matter how much time they, or any of the others, like Cole MacGrath and Alex Mercer, spent on other territories, it never cost them a second of their lives aboard the _Dawn_. She didn't progress closer to rampancy either, and when she and John went before the Uniques and asked about both concerns, the response was a simple "That's how it's meant to be."

_Six seconds left_.

The Uniques were the ones who offered them a chance to continue doing what they do best. They were offered the chance to join the Supernovas. The two groups were intertwined yet entirely different. In a past life, most Uniques had lived extraordinary lives and carried out feats that made them look like messiahs and chosen ones. Others were from territories whose Supernovas needed guidance but the circumstances were extreme, an example being Kessler, joining the Uniques as a means of atonement. Usually though, Uniques were individuals who had fought for a grand cause on their territory, thus it was no surprise when almost all of them shared a common theme: countless lives depended on every choice they made. And those choices were never easy.

_Five seconds left._

Some of the more outstanding examples included the Retronuke Earth Uniques: 13, Chosen, 101, and Six, all of whom came from the same territory, but at multiple points in time. No one ever questioned that they had been through hell, and when they made it to Solara, the centerpoint of Halla, they immediately took the offer to be Uniques.

_ Four seconds left._

So what do the Uniques do? If their lives were over, what did they need from anyone? They wanted what any tired hero wants: to fix the countless "what-ifs" that plagued their minds. They saved the day, but was it enough? The answer is no. The Uniques send a small team, to "reset" their former lives, turn back the clock, and – for lack of a better phrase – do it once more with feeling. Of course if the unstoppable Uniques couldn't make everything just perfect, who could? What kind of man could succeed where a Unique had not? Where could they find the kind of talent needed to top a Unique's own performance?

_Three seconds left_.

That's where the Supernovas come in. They are taken outside the laws of time via Halla's flumes, and given jobs that would be called impossible. But impossible to the common man is usually the epitome of a Supernova.

_Two seconds left._

They are each a one-man army, and usually it was one Supernova standing against an army. She once thought John's title of "hyper-lethal" to be undisputed, and compared to their enemies it mostly still was. Super-mutants and Enclave on Retronuke Earth had fallen in waves before his superior augmentations and technology, and those were the fiercer opponents he had dealt with.

_One second left._

Then they met the rest. Cole MacGrath was a walking thunderstorm, and he had a natural resistance to just about anything not involving water. Alex Mercer looked human, but he was a horrifyingly powerful virus, capable of shape-shifting bench-pressing fighter jets and utterly impossible to kill. Zero was a robot with full sentience (it made her jealous), and the ability to decimate armies with just a gun and sword made of energy. There were so many others, but all that mattered was that all Supernovas, including the Chief were in a league far above the rest of any territory's denizens of ill-intent. It's exactly the kind of power needed in individuals who would "redo" the stories of the Uniques "with style". If this Commander Shepard, wanted to see results, then the new Unique had certainly chosen the right people for the job.

_Spartan 117 has reached maximum effective range._

Her musings concluded at the exact moment Chief compressed the trigger, Cortana tapped into comm. traffic with a very specific goal: find the best way she to protect her Spartan while he fought Batarians with a fluid efficiency born out of years of practice.

Cortana smiled in the back of Chief's mind. Alex and Cole were the powerhouses, but the Spartan and his AI had plenty more experience when it came to killing hostile aliens.

* * *

**There. I hope I didn't bore you into desertion with my exposition chapter. Please read and respond, and I'll whip up some actual combat for next time! Here's a quick peek:**

_ It may as well have been raining blood and metal as Alex Mercer, Blacklight Virus strain DX-1118C, Codename ZEUS, shredded through his ninth wave of pirates. They had gunships, but those were still being prepped for deployment. He could easily handle them, but he had promised Cole some action. The boy-scout knew the colony the best, so after thoroughly demolishing the pirates closest to the town, Cole escorted them to safety. Meanwhile, Chief was making for the nearest comm. outpost so Cortana could signal the Alliance. That left Mercer to do what he did best._

_ Hunt, kill, and consume._

_ Spotting a sniper in his 20/20 peripheral vision, Alex shifted to his whipfist and "sniped" back. Using the momentum of the retracting whip, his allowed it to spin him around, shifting to blade in the process, and mimicked a razor-sharp tornado that ended the lives of the ten closest pirate thugs. Of course, this whole time he was being shot, but the bullets used in this territory were useless against him. Being a fraction of the size of 21__st__ century ammunition, these little shavings of metal were hardly noticeable against his decentralized nervous system, and did far less harm than regular bullets._

_ A whirring sound reminded him that gunships would be a bit different – and general pain in the ass – if they managed to hit him. Apparently the pirates had finished prepping the heavy armor. He let out a roar._

_ "Why is it always fucking gunships with me?! He had a bad experience on Retronuke Earth when corned by three Enclave Vertibirds. He killed them, but one was packing mini-nukes_

_ Before he could show the pilots just how screwed they were for ruining his mood, the sky darkened, and thunder drowned out all other noise. Alex stopped and smirked._

_ "Today's forecast," a guttural voice behind him droned, "Showers of sparks, metal, and dumbass pirates, with a one-hundred percent chance of electric ass-kicking."_

**You want more? Then let me know!**


	3. Breaking the Blitz

**You want action? You want explosions? You want to see the Skyllian Blitz come to a screeching halt when Alex Mercer & co. comes out to play? I hope so, because that's exactly what you're about to get. Hey, after that last chapter, you guys have earned some action.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, now will I ever own, any fictional work shown in this story.**

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Chapter 3: Breaking the Blitz

It was going to be Mindoir all over again.

This was all that the colonists could think as they ran left and right, trying desperately to find loved ones and safe haven simultaneously. Bullets, biotics, and tech grenades were flying everywhere as the pirates killed, maimed, and terrorized their way towards Elysium's largest settlement. They had destroyed the dry-docked Alliance frigate, the _SSV Saratoga_, on arrival, and the remaining forces, on shore leave, died all too quickly. There was no hope for Elysium.

A child, possibly six or seven years old, was running with his mother, but he dropped his toy. Not understanding the severity of the situation, he turned around to grab it, only to run into a batarian slaver. His mother moved to make the ultimate sacrifice, hoping her son would escape, when the batarian's entire body lit up like an eezo core, with lightning arcing between all four of his eyes. He was dead before he hit the ground.

And he wasn't the only one; the entire front line of pirates was suffering the same treatment. As the raiders began to take notice of their dying comrades, they too received shocks until only two batarians and a krogan remained.

Stunned, and looking for a source, the trio of pirates demanded that the source of their current problem show itself. The batarians didn't live long enough to regret it as a bright blue ribbon of electricity blew clean through each of their heads and left scorch marks on the ground. Turning to the source, the krogan and the terrified colonists looked up to see the local power grid technician literally wreathed in blue arcs of lightning.

"Impressive, human! But a few sparks won't kill a krog-urkak! The krogan never finished his bragging; as the strange man leapt off the pre-fab house he was standing on, and smashed the ground in front of the krogan with massive discharge on impact. It sent the krogan flying.

At least until another man slammed into the warlord at dizzying speeds, pile-driving the 800-pound beast and finishing it off with a stomp that caved in its skull. Just when they thought the day couldn't get any weirder, an eight-foot tall green suit of armor walked up and asked their technician to escort them all to safety.

What were these guys?

* * *

This was not what they had signed up for! Elysium was supposed to be the proudest moment of their lives. It was meant to be the greatest blow to humanity in the entire Skyllian Blitz! They had gone over the battle plans, and there was nothing indicating that they would suffer any kind of significant loss. Now they were losing men almost as fast as they were losing ground. And they were losing ground at a horrific rate. To a single human at that.

No, this was no human. Humans died when you shot them in the head. Humans died when you shot _off_ their head. By the Hegemony! Humans died when you shot them, _period_! Humans did not regenerate faster than krogan. Humans didn't have arms that turned into knives and cudgels and Protheans knew what else. Humans didn't casually lift a guy in Skirmish Heavy Armor, the best of Batarian State Arms, clear off the ground, rip them in half, and… _eat them_?! And those eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a weak, greedy human. They were the eyes of a hunter, a predator. And they, the ones who had assaulted Elysium, were its prey. They had to withdraw and regroup before it finished carving through the – too late.

It may as well have been raining blood and metal as Alex Mercer, Blacklight Virus strain DX-1118C, Codename ZEUS, shredded through his ninth wave of pirates. They had gunships, but those were still being prepped for deployment. He could easily handle them, but he had promised Cole some action. The boy-scout knew the colony the best, so after thoroughly demolishing the pirates closest to the town, Cole escorted them to safety. Meanwhile, Chief was making for the nearest comm. outpost so Cortana could signal the Alliance. That left Mercer to do what he did best.

Hunt, kill, and consume.

Spotting a sniper in his 20/20 peripheral vision, Alex shifted to his whipfist and "sniped" back. Using the momentum of the retracting whip, his allowed it to spin him around, shifting to blade in the process, and mimicked a razor-sharp tornado that ended the lives of the ten closest pirate thugs. Of course, this whole time he was being shot, but the bullets used in this territory were useless against him. Being a fraction of the size of 21st century ammunition, these little shavings of metal were hardly noticeable against his decentralized nervous system, and did far less harm than regular bullets. This territory's "mass effect" phenomenon was fantastic shit in his opinion, but in terms of firearms, all it did was remove the need for gunpowder, and replace it with a need for stopping power. Not that it mattered. Small arms fire had never, on any territory, possessed the stopping power required to truly harm him. These pint-sized rail guns were no exception.

A whirring sound reminded him that gunships would be a bit different – and general pain in the ass – if they managed to hit him. Apparently the pirates had finished prepping the heavy armor. He let out a roar.

"Why the fuck is it always gunships with me?!" He had a bad experience on Retronuke Earth when corned by three Enclave vertibirds. He killed them, but one was packing mini-nukes

Before he could show the pilots just how screwed they were for ruining his mood, the sky darkened, and thunder drowned out all other noise. Alex stopped and smirked.

"Today's forecast," a guttural voice behind him droned, "Showers of sparks, metal, and dumbass pirates, with a one-hundred percent chance of electric ass-kicking."

And in a display of power that Humanity had once attributed to the wrath of the divine, Cole MacGrath, the Conduit of electricity, bent the weather to his will. Lightning came crashing down from the black clouds, devastating the airborne attackers. Within seconds, all three gunships had exploded in the sky, falling to the ground as burning wrecks. There had once been a time when this would have exhausted Cole, but no longer. As a means of entering regions with no electricity to keep him going, Cole had gotten an implant on Retronuke Earth. The small device inserted on his lower back was basically a miniature power plant. It couldn't sustain a lightning storm for hours, nor could it provide the energy to instantly heal serious injuries, but it gave him a portable reserve for lengthy fights or long times off the power grid. He didn't know the details, and when the Auto-Doc at Big MT started to explain, Cole immediately left the room in search of a beer. The best part was its symbiotic nature with his powers; it was lead-lined to keep his powers, as well as any external forces, from frying it, while his Conduit nature prevented any kind of sickness. Lead-poisoning was another disease he was immune to.

Several bullets flew past his head, and Cole quickly raised a polarity wall. The idiots continued to shoot at his electric shield, and Cole felt the familiar buzz of radiation. "Bastards are modding their ammo with radioactive chemicals!" It made sense; a poisoned target usually sucked at resisting death or enslavement. This just pissed Cole off more, and with his free hand, he tossed several shock grenades at the pirates. The resulting explosions were quite satisfying.

The explosion that landed six feet from his position was definitely not. As Cole got his bearings, he realized that there were four tanks approaching, along with one more gunship.

"Where the fuck did they get Grizzlies?" Alex yelled to no one in particular. Then he heard something that made his damn day.

"I don't know what the fuck you guys are, but this is the end of the road for you!" a voice screamed from the gunship. "You've failed anyway freaks, since you never noticed the other soldiers approaching from the south! You will die here, and I will reap the rewards personally from our great leader upon my return!"

Alex and Cole looked on in silence for several seconds, and then they both burst out laughing. Unable to contain his rage, the pirate field commander started yelling again. "What is so fucking funny you freaks?"

Alex instantly stopped laughing, and he looked up at the gunship with a completely manic grin on his face. "You think we didn't notice the small fucking army you sent? They have a quick death at the hands of a born killer waiting for them! You don't believe me? Contact them and listen to their dying screams!"

"Very well. I'll call your bluff. You've only bought another ten seconds of life, anyway." Came the reply, but it sounded much less confident than before. He pulled up the visual display from his gunship's mobile command control. What he saw was terrifying.

* * *

An eight foot machine – he thought it was a machine – was running and gunning at breakneck speed. With a shotgun in each hand, and a flawless trigger discipline this metal monster was in no danger of its guns overheating as it alternated between the left and the right hands. The pirate commander kept needing to change helmet cameras, as whichever one he was viewing would stop transmitting once the green freak took aim. The worst part was that he knew his men were shooting it. He saw the countless bullets hit the machine, but they didn't seem to do more than let it know who to shoot next. The finest weapons in Terminus space weren't even scratching this inhuman killer!

The gunfire started becoming more and more infrequent, and there were soon only two left: a batarian and a turian. From the turian's helmet camera, the pirate commander saw the green giant pull out a Devlon Industries Stinger and place a bullet in each of the batarian's eyes with ridiculous timing and perfect aim. Then it reached behind the view of the turian's visor cam. The pirate commander didn't need to see to know that it was reaching for the turian's fringe, or that it was going to mercilessly snap the poor bastard's neck. He just sat there, unable to accept that over fifty Terminus fighters had died at the hands of…

Of what? What were these monstrosities?

"What are you!?" He yelled. He never expected his own gunship's comm. system to respond.

"A monument to all your sins" responded a female's voice. "The Chief and I hate terrorists and we _really_ hate aliens, so you just made our day. This is the end of the road for you and all your efforts at terrorizing the Verge. Alliance ships are coming to deal with however many of you we leave alive for them. Before you point out that they couldn't have heard a distress call when your vessels are blocking all channels, you should know that your encryption algorithms royally suck."

Before he could get anything more out of the voice, the gunship lurched violently. Looking outside, he saw that the hooded human who yelled at him earlier was tethered to the ship by a black tentacle where his right arm should have been. With a yell, he launched himself off the ground and retracted the tentacle, "reeling" himself in. The gunship was now swaying violently in the sky, and he glimpsed down at his Grizzly tanks reduced to scrap, with ribbons of lightning streaming out of the last one and into the other human, completely shutting it down.

A shattering sound alerted him to the fact that the hooded human had ripped off the side of his gunship, and he was now casually climbing in. There was a look in his eyes that just seemed… wrong. The creature before him tore a hole in his chest, and the pirate commander felt himself disappearing. The last thing he saw before dying was a sky full of Alliance ships.

The Blitz had been broken.

* * *

As Alex Mercer consumed the pirate commander, he slipped into a familiar experience. He began to sift through names, dates, places, and other information. Every experience that made up this batarian pirate, named Rusahk, was now a part of Alex Mercer. Alex had laughed earlier because the field commander of these witless SOBs had saved him the trouble of hunting him down. He had practically handed over the name of their next target on a silver platter:

Elanos Haliat, the instigator of the Skyllian Blitz would face the wrath of the Supernovas.

…right after they managed to explain to the thousands of Systems Alliance witnesses what the hell had just happened…

Cole and Alex shared a look, and then ran like hell for a way off the planet.

"Sorry Chief!" Cole yelled over his shoulder. "You joined the Alliance, not us!"

"He's not the only one" chuckled someone who had appeared right in front of them.

The two Supernovas came to a halt, and looked with utter fury at the last person they ever wanted to see on any territory.

The man saluted mockingly at the pair, then said, "Staff Lieutenant Jack Ryan. Alliance Navy. You two have to come with me…" his eyes shone with amusement.

"Would you kindly?"

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**Oh, I know you didn't see that coming! *Evil laugh* His appearance is actually a major plot point, as is their rage for him.**

**In other news, the combat may have been more of a horror story, but that's to show how far the scum of the galaxy are outclassed by the Supernovas. It won't always be this completely one-sided, and I expect to do it from the POV of the protagonists in the future.**

**Questions? Comments? Like it? Hate it? Let me know so I know to give you more!**


	4. Dangerous Debriefing

**Okay, so you guys apparently like what I write. That means I get to keep writing, and you get to keep reading. Be aware however, I am a junior in college, so chapters won't always be posted so frequently. Sorry, but imagine how I feel.**

**This chapter will explain the appearance of Jack "Rapture" Ryan. I guarantee it's not what you expect. Well I hope not. If it is, please let me know with a review that says "Called it!" Let's just say that these guys have worked together long enough to all have history. That history sometimes has rough spots…**

**Oh, and I want to add that you've now seen all four of the Supernovas that I'll be using for the Saren/Conduit story arc. But fear not! (Spoilers for ME2 ahead) After the Collectors attack, the Supernovas will up their game and bolster their ranks. I hope there are some fans of Craig Fairbrass once I get that far…**

**Finally, the moment of truth: Let me make it clear that I already have chosen which two will become Spectres, but I have never made up my mind on which two get the vision from the beacon. I would like your input please. Please know that I won't be giving the vision to Chief. Any of the other three: Alex Mercer, Cole MacGrath, and Jack Ryan, are fair game. Tell me who should get it and why and I would be grateful.**

**Enough stalling then, on to the show!**

**Disclaimer: I hold no ownership of the many works of fiction found in this story.**

**Warning: Spoilers for InFAMOUS, and Bioshock 1 and 2 ahead.**

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Chapter 4: Dangerous Debriefing

_SSV Boston_

_Holding Cells_

_2176_

_2 hours after Blitz_

Alex was unhappy. An unhappy Alex used to result in death for everyone within a six block radius at minimum. Fortunately, he spent enough time as a Supernova to recognize the value of restraint. He was still a psychopath, but he'd come a long way from "sociopathic disregard for others, and displays of classic narcissism." Still, there was nothing he could do. After all, the focus of his anger was worth more alive, and Ryan was also a force to be reckoned with when angry.

Jack "Rapture" Ryan. The Rapture Raptor. The Splicer King. Supernova, but also Unique.

When Jack Ryan's life came to a close, and he accepted the position of Unique, the territory known as Rapture Earth fell into chaos. Jack had demanded that nobody set foot in that underwater hell, and it took an order from the long-retired leader of "Old Halla," Bobby Pendragon himself, for Jack to allow Eleanor Lamb into the Supernovas. But Rapture was not a city that would let itself be forgotten. It demanded that its ruler return. Since no Supernova was sent, Rapture made its own Supernova. The entire city's ADAM and EVE reserves were drained into a single vita-chamber, and the all-too-malleable material was shaped into the last genetically accurate individual to use them: It created an exact replica of the original Jack Ryan, with one exception: this copy was much more powerful.

As he was made of ADAM, Jack "Rapture" Ryan, as the copy was named, possessed every plasmid and gene tonic ever created. It looked like Ryan, but had far better physical attributes, more agile than the spider splicers and stronger than the brute splicers. He could turn invisible at will, teleport like the Houdini splicers, and that's not even mentioning the countless plasmids at his disposal.

He was Supernova-class before even learning about Halla*. The first thought on everyone's mind was to get him off of Rapture Earth and seal the territory away. This decision is still controversial, as the Uniques stand by their choice, while the Supernovas have long hated the consequences.

Immediately upon being taken away from Rapture Earth, Ryan incapacitated his escorts, Zero the Reploid, and Samus Aran the Hunter, before running straight for the flume. He visited Retronuke Earth, The Planet, and several other territories (he was rumored to have even visited Unique Revan's territory!). Each location fell victim to his scavenging. Nobody knew what happened to the things he took, but he had reportedly taken several canisters of FEV virus, large quantities of concentrated mako, at least two different strains of T-virus, and (Alex's personal favorite) a damn _metroid_. Ryan swore to Pendragon himself that he never used any of his "acquisitions" on himself, and when Pendragon believed him, that was that; everyone knew it was impossible to lie to the old man and actually get away with it. Alex believed him too, but he knew it didn't change the facts:

Ryan looked human, he sounded human, shit, he could even act human, but he wasn't human, and he never would be. He was the Splicer King, with everything that implied. ADAM made up his flesh, bone, and muscle, and EVE coursed through his veins.

Of course, after his little joyride, the first thing the bastard did was offer his services to the Uniques however they saw fit. And unfortunately, they saw fit to use him as a one-man wetwork squad. If the rest of the Supernovas were the soldiers of Halla, then Jack Ryan was the black ops boy that nobody talked about in public. Most Supernovas had at least one grudge with Ryan. Alex, surprisingly didn't hate the man personally, but Cole _really_ did, and that meant Ryan was "shit-list by proxy" in the shape-shifter's book. Ryan was often Unique Kessler's first pick for any territory with gunpowder, and that did _not_ amuse the younger MacGrath time-clone. And now they all had to work together. Alex hoped that Cortana enjoyed playing mediator.

A hissing noise shook Alex from his thoughts and alerted him to another presence in his "confinement." That was hilarious; he could have torn the door off the wall like aluminum foil. He turned around to see Master Chief, who nodded towards the hall he had just come from. "We're finally getting debriefed," he said, "but Ryan spared us the 'why we are here' routine."

Mercer raised an eyebrow at that. "No shit? What did he do for that?"

"Swallow your man-pride and ask him yourself," Cortana's called out through the Chief's helmet. "I am _not_ playing go-between in you boys' pissing match!"

"Aw shit," the virus groaned, getting up and following the Chief. "Well, at least tell me how Cole's taking it."

Cortana could be heard laughing softly, "patching into the briefing room's comm. system."

After a moment of silence, Chief's suit speakers began to play a heated "debate" taking place in the briefing room, and the words they heard encouraged the two Supernovas to walk quickly, lest their brothers in arms kill each other.

* * *

_"Relax MacGrath! For the fifth time, I was sent ahead of you guys to run interference!_

_ "Is that right? I seem to recall a Jedi Master falling off a cliff the last time you "ran interference" for me!_

_ "There was a lake below…"_

_ "Ninety feet below! If Alex hadn't been running __**up**__ that cliff, you would have killed him!_

_ "And the fact that he agreed to keep quiet after Alex saved his life? That had been my plan from the start. If he had continued along his course of action, Carth Onasi would have probably died a very painful death. You need to think two or three steps ahead, like Kes-"_

_ "Say it and I swear-"_

"Enough!" bellowed a very irritated Cortana. The two quarreling men looked to the doorway and saw that the rest of the Supernovas had arrived. Ryan instantly relaxed his features.

"Good you're all here. Now we can contact this territory's resident Acolytes**. Pressly, would you patch them through?" An aging man keyed his omni-tool, and the holoprojectors along the back of the room came to life as two humans appeared. One was middle-aged, dark-skinned, and reminded Alex of an old sergeant named Foley he had served under using the alias "Corporal Dunn" (A/N: Barry Pepper and Keith David reference. I couldn't resist!). The other man was fairly old, but Alex knew a warrior when he saw one. He had also consumed enough soldiers to recognize that the first was a captain and the other was an admiral. _Quite the turnout, Ryan, I'm almost impressed_. Alex thought to himself.

"You boys and the AI are the 'Supernovas'?" the old admiral asked. "I'm Admiral Hackett of the Fifth Fleet. Before you ask, yes, I know just about all I need to know, and I have known for roughly two months, thanks to Staff Lieutenant Ryan." Everyone looked to see Ryan holding a hypnotize plasma and sporting a shit-eating grin. "It's completely ludicrous, but after what I've seen him do and what footage there is of Elysium, I'm beginning to understand that ludicrous is what you're going for. Spare me the details, and save me a headache, and a mountain of paperwork. We'll cut to the chase. Anderson," He nodded at his associate.

Anderson looked at Alex with an uneasy expression, "You reportedly… ate the man leading the attack on Elysium. Ryan has alerted us to the fact that you learn what your enemies know whenever you do that."

Hacket interrupted at this point, "We're already going to take the batarians to task over this ordeal, but just have two questions. Do you know who was behind the Blitz, and would you be interested in going to war?"

Ryan looked at them expectantly. Obviously he hoped they would say yes. They all knew their answer: Chief was a given, Alex was itching to kill, and Cole had spent enough time on Elysium for this to have become personal.

Alex stepped forward and gave his trademark psychotic grin. "The man you're looking for is Elanos Haliat, and you've got our support on one condition."

"Let's hear it." Anderson said, obviously relieved that the Alliance had acquired such powerful assets.

"Cole and I get to walk out of here and do things our way. We're willing to work _with_ you, not _for_ you; and we're certainly not working under his," Alex pointed at Ryan "command."

"Son," Hackett said calmly, "if you manage to put Haliat in the ground, and you're willing to help us secure victories that would cost us thousands of lives otherwise, I'll book you two for the first transport to your destination of choice myself."

Alex's grin got more disturbing, if possible. "Then get us a ship to Akuze, and give us a month. Then we'll be happy to nail Haliat and the batarians to the wall."

"Of course," Anderson said, confused, "but why Akuze?"

Alex chuckled. It was an inhuman sound, discomforting to everyone in the room. From beneath his hood, he leveled his gaze at the two Alliance officers.

"I've spent the past two months in the Terminus systems, and you think that one batarian pirate is the only fool I've consumed? I'd tell you the details, but you _really_ want plausible deniability on this one."

That seemed to settle the matter. Chief, Cortana, and Ryan were off for Arcturus station.

Alex and Cole were headed for Akuze. Cole didn't ask why. He really didn't want to know. And Alex, now in a much better mood, wasn't planning on telling. He had said in private that it would be fun, though.

That's when Cole knew he was screwed.

* * *

**Oh yes, you know what's coming. But you'll have to wait for it until I finish with the crapload of exams I have this week. Sorry, but college sucks like that. And now for some footnotes:**

* "**Supernova" was originally nothing more than the highest rank in the threat assessment system used by travelers. The ranks below were Nova, Nimbus, and Infantry. When it became clear that only Supernova-class travelers could solve a Unique's problems, they began calling these travelers "The Supernovas of Halla". That's a bit of unnecessary backstory that I thought would clear up some future confusion.**

**** In **_**Pendragon**_** acolytes are passive supporters within a territory. They don't get to travel, but they have the privilege of knowing that travelers exist. In this storyline, every Supernova gets his own acolyte or two (that would be the Normandy's crew when the time comes) and the Uniques designate a couple of very influential individuals to be their acolytes. Of course, due the constraints of Halla (read: plot purposes), Unique Shepard is not allowed to tell Admiral Hackett that the Reapers are coming. Actually he can't tell **_**anyone**_** the Reapers are coming. No Unique is allowed to tell their Supernovas what the problem is or how to fix it, otherwise, it narrows the Supernova's perceived options, and makes them look like superhuman lunatics that see the future.**

******Also, (spoiler) I've been asked where Shepard is... I'd like to direct you to Chapters 1 and 2, where I say he is one of the Uniques.** That means he's done his job, and since he's very unhappy with the inability to do things on his terms, he's turned back the clock, and sent in the Supernovas, confident that a handful of super-freaks can succeed where he couldn't.

**Finally, I got a comment about how interesting (spoiler) the meeting with the Catalyst would be in this story. That's **_**way**_** off, but I promise you all, here and now, that little cosmic brat will get his.**

**Don't forget, I need your input! Next week, we kill thresher maws.**


	5. Can of Worms

**You have waited a week, and now I reward your patience. Everybody is happy.**

**I got a couple of "awesomes" and one "nobody, where's Shepard?" in response to my question on who you all want to see get the Prothean beacon's vision. I did get a vote via PM for Alex Mercer, so I'll make the other choice: Jack Ryan. Cole was already shown (spoiler) the destruction of 21****st**** century Earth, so the slaughter of the Protheans is the last thing he needs in his head. **

**Yes, guest reviewer, that means that Commander Shepard is not going to be shooting geth in this story.**

**HOLD IT RIGHT THERE: I said "Commander Shepard" is not here. Before anybody rage quits, remember that Shepard is a Unique in this universe, and he is going to play a critical role in this story. I won't give you specifics, but I'll give you this hint:**

**Two Uniques, Revan and Shepard, having a heated argument about war. That is all.**

**Also know that as of this point I'll be taking any questions you guys have, so long as it stays quick and clean. Ask and I'll answer, if I can, in the following chapter. That way I only need to ask the question once. **

**Now that I've wasted enough of everyone's time with Author's Notes, on to the story! Today, Alex and Cole argue with politicians, get to kill a couple dozen **_**very**_** big worms, and then they use "advanced interrogation techniques" on some members of an "interested party" to learn the truth behind this would-be disaster.**

**(Spoilers for Fallout: New Vegas, inFAMOUS, Prototype, and some of Mass Effect 1's side quests)**

**Warning: I think I earned the M-rating in this chapter. Rated for language, decapitation, impalement, dismemberment, acid-burns, and cold-blooded torture. This is Alex Mercer at Akuze. You expected something else?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the fictional works used to create this story. I'm simply borrowing them, smashing them together, and asking the age old question, "Will it blend?" Unfortunately, I have to carefully separate the individual pieces and return them when I'm done.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Can of Worms

_Akuze_

_2177_

Five months had passed, and while reports were coming in about Chief and Ryan's success on the frontlines, Cole and Alex were just now getting their promised transport to Akuze. It would have been much sooner, but it seemed that circumstance was conspiring against them. First, they had to fill out countless statements on the events of the Blitz, something Cortana had done for Chief within seconds. Next, they had to suffer through countless interrogations and inquiries. Normally a quick flourish of electricity and biomass put a stop to bullshit questions from bureaucrats with obvious agendas. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect for a very simple reason:

The bureaucrats weren't humans. While Hackett and Anderson knew the truth, it was a unanimous vote that the non-human races did not fall on the need-to-know list. It was great in theory, but humanity's voice held little weight when all three Council races were demanding answers before letting the Alliance retaliate. That's when things got interesting.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Citadel Station _

_Presidium Embassies_

_Four Months Earlier_

Alex had been asked for a blood sample "for medical reasons, of course" by a heavily, yet pointlessly, guarded salarian Dalatrass. Alex barely acknowledged her presence, but the Salarian Spectre accompanying her, Jondum Bau, was a credit to their race. Alex had to admit, that for an amphibian in his late teens, Bau's intelligence easily surpassed the "real" Dr. Mercer, and he had been a first-rate geneticist. Politics aside, salarians had his respect for their brilliance alone. Their idea of winning a war before it had even started was a refreshing change of pace, and they had the genius to make it work too. Of course, that didn't mean he was going to turn over a sample of his biomass to a race that made up over half the galaxy's best scientists. When the Dalatrass said the Alliance would be blamed for withholding secrets, Alex simply stood up, shifted into a salarian mercenary he had consumed while in the Terminus Systems, and said "I don't answer to the Alliance. They don't know where I came from, and unless you want me to use your face for this trick too, I suggest you stop asking. The fact that no scanner, not even the one you're trying to be discreet about right now, can get a fix on what my DNA even looks like should have been your first clue that the secrets in my cells are going to stay secret."

He shifted back to his default appearance and wordlessly walked out of the room, _without_ waiting for security to unlock the reinforced door. Bau waited until he thought Mercer was out of earshot, then muttered to the Dalatrass, "With respect, the Genophage is small time compared to whatever he's got, it's probably best if we let the matter drop." The Dalatrass simply nodded, utterly terrified that something so human in appearance was leagues above her own intelligence. Their greatest scientists had come up with the Genophage out of desparation. What could possibly have led to the creation of the unnatural beast she had just been speaking to?

Then, Cole had to sit and listen to a Batarian Hegemony representative, a racist prick named Balak, while he endlessly demanded to know why Cole had "conveniently" been on Elysium when the Blitz occurred. He accused Cole of having an inside source among within the Hegemony, and that's when Cole turned the tables with his first-hand knowledge of the workings of organized crime.

"Captain Balak, do you mean to say that you're more concerned about the fact that I may have a source in your government than the fact that I have electricity coming out of my ass? Because I thought we were here to discuss the Blitz."

"We are, human, and the Blitz-" the Batarian External

"Has nothing to do with your government at all. Yet you seem to be terrified that somebody in the Hegemony is selling secrets. The Blitz had batarian aggressors, yes, but they wouldn't have anything to do with the Hegemony's government practices, unless," Cole grinned viciously. This was too easy. "Your government is connected to the Blitz? Maybe the Hegemony helped fund it? I was very curious where the pirates were getting their gear. Because let's recap: those bastards were equipped with high quality gear from – of all things – Batarian State Arms, gunships, and M-22 Grizzlies. The smoking gun, Balak? They flew in on _batarian_ ships! So, to answer your question four-eyes, I don't have an inside source, but I think that right now you've got bigger problems!" The newly-nicknamed "Storm of Elysium" turned to the rest of the increasingly hectic room and announced, "Ladies and turians, court is adjourned."

The asari were next to try their hand, putting Alex on the spot again. As the de facto mediators of Citadel Space, their biggest concern was his "unstable psychopathic behavior". Mercer snorted. "Ma'am, if I may," as annoying as politicians were, Alex, an immortal virus, was willing to show some courtesy to an individual who had lived to be over nine centuries old, "I was diagnosed as 'sociopathic' not psychopathic, just for future reference."

The asari matriarch in charge of the inquiry sighed, "Yes, and it shows in your utter lack of concern for the gravity of your situation. Mr. Mercer-"

"It's 'Doctor' Mercer," Alex interjected. Again, the matriarch sighed.

"_Doctor_ Mercer, you clearly enjoy violence, and the unique… physiology you possess makes wanton destruction an easy task. You can also absorb the biomass of your victims, take their memories, and impersonate them for further chaotic results. Clearly, you're the last kind of person who should be doing as he pleases. Surely even you can see that letting you go free is-"

"An intergalactic incident waiting to happen? A risk you can't afford to take when the Alliance is itching for war with the pirates in the Terminus systems?" Alex questioned mockingly, in the voice of an asari he had "acquired" when some thugs tried to rob him during his first day on Omega. Switching back to his "real" voice, Alex smugly said, "You're more or less correct, but you forget that you've been running that risk since humanity appeared on the scene. The Alliance isn't gonna play by your rules. And you can be damn sure I won't play by anyone's rules. I don't have enough respect for politicians to obey them unless it suits my interests. But you want confirmation that I have enough sanity not to murder your precious council don't you? Then I'd suggest you contact this frequency," he typed in a private comm. channel's number, "and ask the lady who answers for her opinion." With that he sat back, clearly done talking.

The matriarch looked at the frequency before reluctantly attempting to contact the signal's owner. The person that answered made the matriarch instinctively take a step back.

The signal had just put her in contact with the infamous Aria T'Loak.

"Well, well. Matriarch Asana and Alex Mercer. I can guess what you need Alex, and I'll be glad to get you off the diplomats' crap list. I owe you for thoroughly disgracing Elanos Haliat's name. He was certainly useful, but too ambitious, and it's in my interests to help you kill him." The Pirate Queen turned to the matriarch, "Asana, you can let Councilor Tevos know that any further concerns about Dr. Mercer's mental status can be relayed to me." She started to turn away, but stopped and looked at Alex with an amused expression. "You should know that your little stunt on Elysium didn't earn you many friends back here on Omega. Of course, they know Omega's one rule, so you shouldn't be shot at... any more than usual." With that, Aria ended the connection.

Alex smirked at the speechless asari matriarch. "I think I'll be going now."

When word of that particular incident got back to the Council, the turians didn't even try. Human/turian animosity was hardly twenty years old, and threats from the Hierarchy were likely to be met by these two particular humans with quick and messy deaths for half of the turian residents on the Citadel. Alex and Cole were finally given their requested transport.

* * *

_End Flashback_

_Akuze_

_Present_

By now, Cole had expected to be long done with this Akuze business and back to killing pirates for the Alliance. What had they accomplished instead?

Nothing. Not a damn thing. Hell, they were just now setting foot on the planet's surface. Apparently the colony had been totally silent for two weeks, and a rear admiral with the Fifth fleet, named Mikhailovich, sent an "investigative squad" of fifty Alliance soldiers. It was obvious the man was trying to take advantage of the fact that Alex and Cole were stuck playing nice with the Citadel's many politicians, and now that his men had gone silent as well, Mikhailovich was paying the price and Akuze had been declared a no-fly zone. It took clearance from Hackett to get a ship anywhere near the planet. Their pilot wisely chose to drop them off once Cole threatened to drain the electricity from the ship's drive core if he refused. The conduit wasn't bluffing either; without an electric current running through it, eezo returned to solid form, and became incapable of generating mass effect fields. This was likely Cole's greatest advantage in this territory.

The whole ordeal was beginning to piss Cole off, though he was more surprised that Alex hadn't gone insane from boredom. What's more, the sociopathic-geneticist-turned-living-virus hadn't complained about the lack of action _once_. That worried Cole.

Scratch that. It scared the buzz-cut conduit shitless.

"Alex, now that we're here, will you please tell me what we-"

"No," came the swift reply from a fully alert Alex, but Cole had no idea what his inhuman instincts were actually focused on. There was nothing here. He was about to let Alex choose between answering his questions or getting all of Akuze's magnetic field dropped on his viral ass, when his friend visibly tensed.

"Wait a second. Are you _worried_ about whatever is supposed to happen here?" If something had Alex nervous, then Cole planned on jumping through the nearest mass relay – _without_ a ship he would like to add – just to get away from it. He calmed down once he saw Alex's patented psycho-smirk. Now that he knew that it was just predator's anticipation, the "thrill of the hunt", Cole knew he could relax a bit.

The conduit sighed once he realized how utterly terrible that logic was. Sometimes he missed being a bike-courier. It was actually one of the reasons he took an interest in Retronuke Earth. The territory's fourth Unique, Courier Six, apparently got shot in the head, and survived, just for a delivery. The man responsible, a gangster wannabe named Benny, got a dose of electrostatically-induced PTSD, courtesy of Cole's more advanced arsenal. Cole didn't like borrowing from Kessler's skill-set, but that bastard had been worth it. Of course, when he learned what the package was actually for, his first act was to drain the electricity from the illustrious Mr. House's life support system, leaving the bastard to rot slowly. Cole knew better than anyone what it was like to have your life forever changed by the contents of a package.

Before Cole could start waxing nostalgic, he felt the ground just barely move beneath him. It was faint, and if it wasn't for the fact that the soil below was so loosely compressed it may have gone unnoticed. Add in the fact that there were signs of repeated sediment upheaval, but no fault zones or signs of plate tectonics in the area, and the ground may as well have been …

Oh _shit_. The colony was empty.

"Alex, if you tell me in the next three seconds what the hell is going on, I promise that I won't cause any permanent damage to your nervous system.

Alex merely pointed to the nearby cliff. "If you felt it, then you need to get up there now. If you still have any questions after hell breaks loose, I'll be glad to answer them."

Cole snorted, but decided to drop it for the time being. He spark-stepped (**A/N: Kessler's electric version of super-speed; he "zaps" from place to place as actual lightning**) up to the top of the cliff. He knew from experience that Alex wasn't sending him away to look at the sunrise.

Alex was about to let loose and anything below this cliff just became danger close.

"His time as 'Corporal Dunn' sure has changed him," Cole muttered to himself. "Since when has Alex Mercer cared about danger close?" (**A/N: anybody willing to name the reference?)**

Another tremor shook him from his musings. Another, larger tremor was making it hard to balance. "What the f-"

The question died instantly as roughly a dozen of the biggest, ugliest and fiercest worms Cole had ever seen shot straight out of the ground, all of them inside the walls of the city. "You wanna tell me what's going on _now_!" He yelled down to the unflinching psychotic virus.

"Giant worms!" Mercer laughed maniacally, "They built the colony on a nest of giant worms!" (**A/N: most gamers should know this reference)**

"I figured that part out myself, genius! What's the plan?" Cole knew that if Alex hadn't told him about the impending worm attack, then this little expedition also involved people.

"By now you should have realized that your comm. is being jammed. Find the jammer, and anyone else involved, and shut them down, but make sure you don't kill them! Then get your ass back here and help me kill these motherfu-"

Alex's strategy was interrupted by one of the worms smashing through the ground directly beneath him, swallowing him whole before burrowing back underground.

Cole ran like hell. Not because he was scared, but because his current location just went from "danger close" to "within the kill zone". He knew what Mercer did when forced underground. Now was looking like a _really_ good time to find the comm. jammer and whoever was using it.

The entire settlement cracked open as countless spikes, made from Mercer's own biomass, tore through the earth. The sound of the worms shrieking in pain and confusion only added to the devastation. Then the one that had been stupid enough to eat Alex erupted from the ground again. It let loose a cry of agony, and then its head exploded, releasing a barrage of powerful tendrils that ripped holes in the skulls of three nearby thresher maws, leaving them dead as well. The tendrils retreated towards the center of the explosion, a very pissed off Alex, now standing on the pulped remains of his first victim's head. He was coated head to toe in a green fluid, and it seemed to be burning away his skin faster than he was growing it back.

"Shit that hurt! Alright, fun's over. Come on! I'm here! Come and get me!" Alex was completely in his element now. These worms were natural predators, and they could sense that he was the same. The only way they would relinquish their feeding ground was if Alex managed to kill them all.

There was no mistake in Alex's mind that this was a feeding ground. He just needed to know what kind of sick fucks thought it was a good idea to put a colony on top of it and see what would happen. He knew they were watching, whoever "they" were. He knew that he was easily the most interesting thing they had ever seen. He knew that if Cole was going to take them alive, then the spotlight had to stay on Alex and the maws entirely.

With that in mind, the viral copy of Dr. Alex J. Mercer shifted to his hammerfists, and vaulted thirty feet up towards the closest worm.

* * *

Cole was beginning to see what was going on, and while he didn't like it, he understood why Alex hadn't told anyone that he knew this was coming. Revealing the truth at any time could have tipped these assholes off in any number of ways. Even telling Admiral Hackett over a secure comm. line wasn't an option. The resulting evacuation attempt would definitely alert the people responsible, and if the deaths of fifty Alliance soldiers were anything to go by, it would likely cause enough noise that the worms would come out to play. Either way, the people of Akuze would have died, painfully. And now, fifty marines had needlessly died too. This way, though, Alex could blame their deaths on both the madmen behind it and the politicians whose inaction allowed it. Cole smirked at the thought of all those diplomats looking for some excuse as to why they suspended Akuze's best chance at survival with their damn "protection of Council interests" routine.

A buzzing in his head brought Cole back to the present situation, and his smirk became a furious glare. With his natural electromagnetic "radar" he had detected the source of the jamming device. In other words: "the conduit sense was tingling."

Closing his eyes and focusing, Cole sent a "radar pulse" through the buildings around him, and the strongest interference came from the pre-fab house on his ten o'clock. He also detected three "red" nervous systems inside indicating they were hostile to him. "Found you bastards."

The location had been perfect. It wasn't a part of the main colony, and the ground here was much more solid. The other houses had been hastily erected to avoid the suspicion that a lone building would attract, and with the air filters littering the whole complex, they may as well be invisible to the thresher maws' sense of smell.

He could tell that the men inside were furious that their little experiment had been ruined, but they were also delighted to have discovered "such a marvelous example of human potential." Cole snorted; he would sooner pick a fight with Starkiller the Jedi clone than describe Alex with that phrase. Having no clue what he was dealing with, Cole took the usual, and admittedly ironic, approach: shock and awe.

Channeling electricity to his fists, Cole released a shockwave from directly behind the door, blowing it off its hinges, and sending two of the room's occupants floating helplessly in a magnetic field. The third, glowing blue and still standing, was lucky to be a biotic. Cole released an overload burst (**A/N: the inFAMOUS version of overload burst, people, not the Mass Effect version)** at his center mass, and when the biotic raised a barrier as Cole predicted, the torrent of lightning was reduced by the protective layer just enough to knock the bastard unconscious rather than kill him.

Cole knew he was running out of time before the other two assholes were re-introduced to gravity, so he quickly grabbed the biotic's pistol. That was one of the greatest things about this territory in his opinion: weapons and vehicles both used mass effect technology rather than gunpowder and gasoline, and that meant he could use them without making them explode. Also, the wonders of decontamination technology meant he had a way to get clean without short circuiting the entire county. He really had missed the things that everyone else probably took for granted.

Pistol in hand, Cole let loose a stream of arc lightning across all the important-looking electronic equipment (he guessed it stored their data gathered in Akuze prior to transferring all files to an omni-tool), and that was when the two remaining idiots fell to the ground. He let lightning flow from his body and into the pistol, enhancing its mass effect fields, shot both of their guns, lightly shocked both of the hostiles and drained all the energy from the one in his hand, leaving all firearms in the room useless. Placing arc restraints on all three of the men, Cole had effectively secured the room.

"Now you sick bastards sit tight, and we'll be back to ask you some questions later. Oh, before I forget…" Cole grabbed the conscious men by their skulls and sent a light jolt through their systems. Not enough to kill them, but certainly enough to incapacitate them and prevent any attempts at using their omni-tools or rupturing those cyanide capsules he knew were in their false molars. He spent enough time fighting paramilitary extremists to know that's what he was dealing with. Cole stepped outside, fried the jamming tower with a shock grenade, then stepped back inside. He turned to the last working surveillance screen in the room, a satellite view of the battle zone. _Where the hell did they get that kind of pull_, he thought, then shrugged and sat down to watch the show. "I wish I brought popcorn. A hundred and fifty years into the future and military rations still suck." With that, Cole put his feet up on the desk and enjoyed the carnage. "I'll go help him when he actually needs it. Call it payback for keeping me in the dark."

* * *

Alex Mercer was very angry at the moment. He had only managed to kill two more worms before they decided to fight smart. The first died when he cracked its head with his hammerfists, the second one died when he ripped off its claw and drove it straight through the worm's left eye. After that, only six remained, and they had seen him as a large enough threat to work together. They only attacked in pairs now, and they struck from angles that would always leave him vulnerable to one if he tried to kill the other. Roaring in fury, Alex grabbed a car-sized chunk of debris, hoisted it over his head, and waited.

He didn't have to wait long before the maws burrowed up from the ground at his six o'clock and his nine. Choosing the worm on his six, Alex jumped straight at it, and when its partner moved to shred his exposed flank, he hurled the massive slab of stone into nine o'clock's face. Immediately returning his attention to six o'clock, Alex shifted to whipfist, and grabbed it by the face. Knowing it would quickly try and go back underground, he used its face as a tether, and swung himself up, over, under, and around the maw's neck. Then he pulled _hard_, and completely severed its head.

Before he got a chance to admire his handiwork, the other maw returned, looking a little worse for wear after taking a boulder to the face. Bearing down hard and fast, Mercer did the first thing that came to mind, letting loose a punishing stream of compressed air and biomass that blew a hole clean through the worm's skull (Alex Mercer's "critical pain" devastator). Alex dropped to one knee after that.

Four worms to go, and he had used up his reserves of critical mass. He was just now overcoming the acid that had been liquefying his skin since the beginning of the fight. He had to be really careful from here on out. Then he got another idea for the next wave.

He shifted his arms into four-fingered claws, and repurposed his eyes for thermal vision. After a moment, the sound faded away, and the viral predator could clearly see the massive heat signatures below the surface. He now had the means to strike first, and damn if he wasn't going to make the most of it. "Damn, I should have thought of this sooner." Alex muttered bitterly.

Raising one claw high, he targeted the subterranean worm that was closest to him, and then he drove the claw straight into the ground. Focusing on the worm's trajectory, he forced an enormous stream of biomass out of his claw, and sent it tunneling through the rock and stone. Just as it reached the thresher maw's current position, Alex shifted the underground biomass into a sadistic column of spikes, brutally spearing the worm's head and neck, and lifting it right out of its tunnel.

Alex's victory laugh turned into a scream of agony, as his groundspike arm got drenched in the dead maw's acid. He quickly retracted his arm, only for his thermal vision to catch another worm coming straight for him! "This is gonna hurt like hell," he groaned.

Without waiting for the remaining fifteen feet of biomass to return, Alex simply yanked it all above ground, breaking his shoulder in the process, but allowing the biomass to retract faster, and letting him shift his claws back into hands. Without a second to spare, he shot off the ground, dodged the hungry worm, and reached around to snap his entire arm back into something that looked like an arm. This was all done in the span of five seconds.

Sticking the landing, he turned around to face his tenth worm of the day, and let out a primal roar. It knew his arm was burning, and he had to goad it into attacking him rather than retreating underground. If it rose to the challenge from this distance, he could hopefully kill it with what had to be his craziest idea yet.

He knew he'd get one shot at this so he had to make it count. Tensing his body, ink black armored plates began to form over his normally lean body. Then, once he had completed his armored form, he increased biomass in his arms for heightened muscle mass. Crouching down, Alex put his bulked up hands out, palm facing inwards; the universal gesture of a challenge.

The worm roared, and spit acid at Alex, which caused minimal damage to his armor. Then it shrieked, and in a fit of rage, moved to swallow the viral mutant whole. As it bore down on him, Alex reached out and grabbed it by the jaw, bringing the colossal beast to a literally screeching halt.

With unnatural grace, Alex smashed the worm's head into the ground and flipped into the air. When it lashed out with a claw, he used it as a stepping stone, launching himself almost three hundred meters into the air. Spreading his arms, Alex shifted out of his armor and began to "glide" over the stunned thresher maw. Then, he dove straight down, hitting the worm with the force of a damn asteroid. Its face was instantly pulverized, and the surrounding area was shattered by the impact.

Before Alex could recollect his thoughts after divebombing from over sixty stories up, the eleventh maw erupted from the ground directly on his right, taking off his arm in the process. The twelfth wasn't far behind, spraying Alex with acid. Before, they had been fun to fight, but now Alex was beginning to hate these worms. "I guess it's only fair. The real Dr. Mercer would have been worm food long ago."

* * *

Alex knew he had to retreat, but he didn't want to leave his arm behind. That's when the sky darkened, and once again, both of the oversized worms were deep-fried by bolt after punishing bolt of lightning from above. "It's about fucking time you showed up!" he yelled at his approaching friend.

"I had to carry these asshats all the way back here. You may have super strength, but mine is only above average. Besides, they wanted to see 'the future of humanity' at work. Their reactions were _priceless_." With that, Cole dumped the three whimpering operators at Alex's feet.

The apex predator gave his newest victims an inhuman smile. "Let them know just how in the shit they are while I go find my arm." With that, Alex walked away to find his arm. There was no way he was going to risk leaving it for a 22nd century science team to analyze it. Alex was a ruthless killer, but even he wasn't going to risk another Blacklight outbreak.

Cole turned to the fearful bastards who had let this colony die for their experiments, and with sparks flying from his hands said, "Who feels like talking first?"

Alex tuned out the tortured cries of their captives. In all honesty, he didn't give a shit what they told his brother-in-arms. He was still going to consume them for the knowledge, so it didn't matter what they said. The only reason they were currently being electrocuted was because Alex's powers weren't meant to kill slowly. Still, these shits had killed off the thousands who lived on Akuze, and then sat back as the maws butchered the Alliance forces sent to investigate. That didn't even count the crap he had been through just to track them down. He had no respect, no mercy, and no pity for their type. These scum were no better than the Enclave on Retronuke Earth, and he didn't even know who they worked for yet!

Upon reaching the maw that had eaten his arm, Alex switched to his specialized infected vision, and watched in fury as the last traces of his right forearm were turned to carbon gas by the damn worm's acid. "I officially hate thresher maws," Alex grumbled, as he began growing a new arm to replace the one he just lost. Reverting to his normal vision, he jogged back to their prisoners.

"Wait! Please, wait! We have valuable information you can bring to the Alliance! Just please don't ki-aaahhhh!" Their pleas for mercy were cut short by another bolt of lightning. Cole wasn't in a forgiving mood after what he had read on their outpost's mainframes. These guys had been planning the whole damn thing since before Elysium. Add in their obviously secretive operating procedures, and they probably didn't even know who Alex and Cole were.

"If you have intel, then I'll gladly take it off your hands," Alex snarled. He was eager to get the hell off of Akuze. With that, he grabbed the biotic operator by the neck, lifted him over his head, and drove his skull into the ground with a sickening crunch. Alex's world went black for a moment, and then he grasped his head in pain as this man's memories opened up a new node within his "web of intrigue" his interconnecting threads of conspiracies and plots:

* * *

_Web of Intrigue Node 4:_

_Agent Tobias Grant_

_Disembodied Voice: You said you've made a discovery on Akuze, Agent Grant?_

_Agent Grant: Yes sir. The thresher maws slaughtered the entire colony, and of the fifty Alliance personnel who investigated, only one survived. I believe his name was Corporal Toombs. It's remarkable, considering he's got maw acid inside open wounds. With your approval, I'd like to send him off-site with Dr. Wayne for further testing. The destination will be left up to Dr. Wayne in the event that we are compromised, preventing anyone from coming after him or the asset._

_Disembodied Voice: Permission granted. You've done good work Tobias. This discovery will likely help Cerberus protect and preserve humanity, as is our goal. Stay on-site for another three weeks, and if nothing else turns up, regroup with the rest of the Talladega Cell in the Hydra system._

_Agent Grant: Yes sir. For humanity, and for Cerberus._

_End of Node 4_

* * *

Alex blinked. He had expected many things, but a pro-human splinter group was not one of them. He had plenty of more questions, but these other two pieces of shit would be turned over to the Alliance.

What was Cerberus? Who was the unknown voice? And what the hell was in the Hydra system? One thing was for damn sure:

The mission just became a rescue operation.

* * *

**Whoa! Long chapter, I know. I also know that I may be tweaking the official timeline by a few years. But between the hell Toombs went through, and the fact that he's never brought up again after his email in ME2, I figured I could do something better for the guy.**

**I originally was going to split this into two chapters, but then I decided it was better to show Alex and Cole kicking political ass in the same chapter as they kicked bad guy ass.**

**As I've said, I'll now start taking questions **_**within reason**_**. I'm not going to spend my time debating, but if you have a question, I'll address it as best I can at the beginning of the next chapter.**

**Remember to read AND review, so that I know whether it's worth it to continue. Here are a couple of bonus questions:**

**Who is Agent Tobias speaking to?**

**What do you think is happening in the Hydra system?**

**Would you like to see Ryan and Chief kick ass next chapter, or do you want more Alex and Cole awesomeness?**

**That last one is for my own benefit, and to make sure you paying attention. I can visualize everything that's happened so far in two or three minutes, tops. What I want to want to know is if you guys are following me, or if I need to adjust my writing style. Your opinions are valuable to me, so let me know what you think. **


	6. Rapture Rampage

**Is this thing on? Testing, testing. One, two, three. Oh, hey there. Okay, let's do this.**

**First a few notes:**

**I've been approached by my sister, who also writes fanfiction. She and I are great friends, and she's been there since the beginning, when I started visualizing my stories roughly five years ago. She is currently choosing to give me the death glare until I address this issue, so here we go:**

**There may be pairings between some of the characters. I'm willing to give it some serious thought unless I get a lot of people seriously shooting me down in the review section. In other words,**_** if you don't want pairings, leave a comment.**_

_****__**No, before you ask, I will NOT be pairing Alex and Cole with each other.**_

**I don't see why it would be a horrible idea. Even though they save alternate realities for a living, these guys will spend a great deal of time and energy in this particular one. These guys have a human(ish) side too (spoilers ahead):**

**Alex is a sociopath who learns by eating people and his last relationship ended when his ex betrayed him to Blackwatch. Cole is hurting, but after watching his future self kill his girlfriend, it's understandable. **

**I'm making Ryan a shameless flirt as part of a complex coping mechanism to deal with his horrifying origins. For now it will stay that way, but I plan on the events and people of Mass Effect changing something in him (see below). **

**And Chief… well Cortana fans need not worry.**

**Well, I'm done yapping about that. Hope I didn't make too many enemies. If I did, then let me know. Time for the story. This time, Alex and Cole debrief Hackett on the Akuze tragedy, and are frustrated with the results. Meanwhile Staff Lieutenant Jack Ryan sneaks into a batarian space station to get some critical information, but when all of his victims stop answering their comms, he goes weapons – and plasmids – loud.**

**You may wonder why I'm making Jack Ryan a major character (spoilers ahead). Andrew Ryan told us that "a man chooses; a slave obeys." The Reapers want slaves, right? Jack is going to conquer his inner demons by conquering indoctrination.**

**Warning: Bioshock spoilers and minor Mass Effect: Retribution spoilers**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any fictional work seen in this story.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Rapture Rampage

_2177_

_Arcturus Station_

_Briefing Room_

_3 weeks after the Akuze Incident_

Alex Mercer had finished retelling the events of Akuze to Admiral Hackett five minutes ago, and the room had been dead silent ever since. Cole was about to ask if the admiral was still with them, when the old man finally sighed and said, "Forgive my silence, but I'm trying to figure out the safest way to tell you to drop your Cerberus investigation entirely. I figure you'll like the direct approach."

"What?" Alex's tone just cooled the room twenty degrees. Hackett got up and began to pace around the table.

"It's delicate Mercer. We greatly appreciate what you've done, and this is invaluable evidence, but there are two problems with your proposed solution."

Alex crossed his arms, "I can't wait to hear this."

Hackett shook his head, wishing he had a very large case of vodka, "First, it should come as no surprise that hardly anyone among the Council races likes you. At all. With that in mind, you should know that the Council recently sent word that we're to keep a constant eye on you, and if you should leave Alliance space, it can only be to fight in the pirate retaliation campaign. Secondly," Hackett leveled Alex with a look that was actually fierce enough to make the viral sociopath hold his tongue. Satisfied Alex wouldn't interrupt, he continued, "Cerberus is a rogue pro-human terrorist organization that even I can't get two paragraphs of decent intel on. You found out about them by killing and eating one of their operatives. If we let you continue as you are, the galaxy will think that we're taking down one monster by unleashing one that's far worse. It would be the Rachni Wars and Krogan Rebellions all over again. Surely you've read enough history to know how that turned out. I'm sorry boys, but there's nothing I can do. You two may pack more of a punch than my entire Fifth Fleet, but the fact remains. You're civilian assets that I can use with certain restrictions, and those restrictions are coming down from politicians that hate anything that might upset their precious status quo."

While Alex took all of this in, something occurred to Cole. "What about Corporal Toombs, sir? I'm not a soldier, but last I checked, you guys had a really big 'no man left behind' policy about this sort of thing."

Hackett let out a humorless chuckle, "If I didn't know you were one of the most dangerous SOBs in the galaxy, I'd have your ass spaced for even thinking I'd abandon one of our own. I may not be able to send you to look for Toombs, but I can – and will – become the largest headache the Council has ever known until he is finally found and brought back here to Arcturus. And if the Corporal dies because of political bullshit," Hackett's expression could have shattered a mass relay. "Then I will raise enough hell that the next three generations of asari will know that a human soldier could have been saved, but he died, alone and afraid, because my best assets were grounded by them."

Alex snorted, "So Toombs is our leverage into the big leagues? That's kinda harsh."

Hackett met Alex's gaze unflinchingly. "If you have a better idea that won't demonize humanity, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, why don't we get you on the next ship to batarian space?"

Cole and Alex sighed in defeat, knowing this was the best that would come from it. As much as hijacking a small ship and killing the Council would please them, it would be tough to explain to Unique Shepard that they had murdered the three most important diplomats in the galaxy for being assholes. Uniques were not meant to give any information on future events, but Shepard had begged them to do one thing:

_Please, don't let the Council die._

Deciding that Cerberus would be another battle for another day, Alex turned back to Hackett, "Whose ass are we kicking, sir?"

Hackett visibly relaxed, obviously glad that the two powerhouses had let the matter drop for the time being. "Let's just head back to the _Boston_ for now. The "Rapture Raptor" will have a location for us by the time we're in the Terminus systems."

When the aging admiral saw them both visibly slouch at the mention of his most successful N7 graduate, Hackett once again found himself in dire need of that vodka.

* * *

_Viper Nebula_

_Bahak System_

_Urmola Space Station_

_1 month after the Akuze Incident_

Staff Lieutenant Jack Ryan had used his teleport plasmid to get onto the base, only to immediately go invisible as two hostiles approached the room. He was under orders from Captain Anderson to stay silent while retrieving the shipping data from the station's logs. Of course, he was also given permission to kill anyone in his way. The Alliance had _not_ been happy when Cole exposed them for backing the Skyllian Blitz, so dead Batarians were always popular with the boys back at Arcturus station. Still, it was better to hold off on tearing the four-eyed bastards a new one until he was closer to his objective. Ryan grinned wickedly as he equipped his custom spider-splicer hook. That just meant he had to kill them _quietly_ for now.

Before the batarians knew what was going on, the first one's neck was severed, and the second one had enough time to reach for his pistol in shock before a nine-inch, pressure-forged, platinum hook was buried into his skull. Ryan rematerialized over the two corpses, moved them out of sight, and proceeded down the hall.

Rather than skulk through the shadows, Ryan leapt onto the ceiling, and latched in with his hooks. With great dexterity, the Splicer King crawled while hanging upside-down. It was rare that people would look up, since common sense dictated that his current actions were just not possible. And Ryan was milking that assumption for all its worth. This was the kind of work he was made for, after all.

At the moment, Ryan had settled for crawling along the ceiling for two reasons: It was better than risking a teleportation, which made a lot of noise and caused brief tunnel vision when he made his re-entry. Also, his cloaking took a lot of careful concentration since that talent was based on gene tonics rather than plasmids. He could only squeeze out two or three strikes of any kind before he was forced to drop the invisibility. And it wasn't something he could use again right away; his higher-end abilities had a "cooldown" time on them, similar to biotics, only they needed a cooldown for everything. Finally, Ryan wasn't like Alex or Cole. They could take serious punishment with no real worries, and heal right up afterwards. The Chief even had his MJOLNIR Mk. VI armor to keep him alive. Ryan couldn't even use regular Alliance armor because it would hinder his combat style.

Between his plasmids and his special brand of mobility, Ryan required an exposed left hand and lots of flexibility, so he had to dress in a loose-fitting shirt, coat, and pants (an outfit more often worn by the drell than the humans). This meant that he had to rely on one of those shield harnesses commonly used in the Terminus Systems. Luckily the outfit didn't harm his performance in hazardous environments, since his gene tonics could keep him healthy and alive. Even if he ended up in deep space, he could freeze the exposed parts of his own body, then teleport to safety. For his head, he sported a collapsible full-face helmet that he had "acquired" from an arrogant biotic named Kai Leng during training. He never met the guy personally, but the rumors were bad enough to let Ryan know he needed a reality check. Besides, Ryan absolutely refused to rely on those stupid breather masks that did nothing to protect the wearer's eyes and skull from the extremes of space.

All in all, Ryan was faster, stronger, and certainly more durable than the average Alliance marine, but he had some limits. He wasn't a walking WMD like Cole or Alex. He was a commando, meant for striking with surgical precision. Of course, one doesn't come out of Rapture without knowing the secret to winning a battle of attrition: fight dirty. Cole liked to annoyingly remark that, since Unique Ryan was born in 1956, and then Jack Ryan the Supernova was created in the 1970s, something about mankind's penchant for trench warfare apparently had sunk in.

Ryan chuckled darkly at that last thought. He wasn't a part of mankind. He wasn't even human. He was the bastard child of a city. One time, a Supernova called Deadpool, only in it for the money, was stupid enough to ask, "After the Little Sisters, Big Daddies, and Big Sisters, would that make Ryan a Big Twin, or a Little Bastard?" The resulting showdown ended with Ryan on suspension and Deadpool recovering from a cracked sternum and an incinerated tongue. Unfortunately, Ryan knew that the Merc with a Mouth wasn't totally wrong in his statement…

More footsteps, accompanied by gruff voices reminded Ryan that a hostile space station wasn't the best place to angst. Retracting one hook, he released a scout plasmid, preparing to quickly kill his next batch of victims. He had heard about Mindoir, and if there was one thing he had kept about the real Jack's persona, it was a burning desire to protect orphans at any cost.

He couldn't do anything for the sons and daughters of Mindoir now, but he could make these four-eyed freaks pay in blood.

With the scout, he counted three batarians, all carrying shotguns and wearing heavy armor with serious upgrades. These guys were obviously veterans. It was an unfortunate sign that Ryan was closing in on his goal. Dispelling the hazy projection the plasmid was showing him, he switched to the aquatic version of his cyclone trap, the geyser trap, rigged the floor with it, and waited.

Soon enough, the unaware triggered the trap, and a torrent of water erupted from the ground, sending all three batarians sprawling across the floor. Unlike the cyclone trap, this plasmid caused little noise, so it attracted less attention. With his enemies on the floor, Ryan struck. He let go of the ceiling, elbow-dropping the first one, caving in his chest. The second one didn't have time to scream before he was frozen solid by Ryan's winter blast. Moving quickly, Ryan kicked the batarian icicle in the head, shattering it on impact. By then, the third target had risen to his knees, and he had just taken aim when his shotgun was ripped from his hands by an invisible force, and floated towards the "human" attacker. Not giving up the advantage, Ryan surged at the batarian, looped his arms around the alien's neck, and snapped it with practiced ease.

Ryan's journey through the station was largely uneventful after that. He maybe killed another six or seven batarians total after the first five. As he was walking away from the last of his kills, one of their helmet's comm. lines went off, "Echo Six, you're the fourth team to go completely silent. Echo Six, respond. Echo Six? Come on Gren, answer me! Shit, we've got a breach! Somebody's killin' our boys!"

"Well, silence just went to hell," Ryan murmured to nobody in particular. He donned his helmet and teleported as far into the station as his schematics went.

* * *

Upon re-entry, Ryan wasn't greeted by dozens of angry batarians, but by two scared human girls. They looked at him and immediately cowered in the corner of what he realized was a holding cell. Noticing that they were roughly the age of all the Little Sisters found in Rapture, Ryan became absolutely furious. He didn't know what purpose the Batarians had for them, but he knew it involved slavery, and that was enough to send him into fits of unstoppable rage. Of course, he needed to bottle up his anger until these girls were in less danger. Handing them a backup comm. link, Ryan retracted his helmet for familiarity, and got to one knee saying, "Take this, and if any of the aliens come into this room, just hold it to your mouth, and say, 'would you kindly save us?' and I'll come and protect you. Then, I'll get you both out of here, I promise."

After seeing them hesitantly nod, Ryan re-activated the helmet, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He was very close to his objective, and if his plan worked, he was going to be done very quickly. Activating his priority comm. line, he whispered, "_SSV Boston_, this is Raptor. They know I'm here, but I'll have that data soon. I'll also be returning with two POWs, so be ready at the extraction point in eight minutes, over."

Not waiting for an affirmative, Ryan moved forward, planning reach his target, the room with the shipping manifest, and soak it in batarian blood. Without a second thought, he teleported straight for the station mainframe, consequences be damned. Nobody _ever_ attacked children if he was in a position to stop it. His appearance startled the four batarians in the room, but they died soon after Ryan sank a throwing knife into each one's skull. Then he turned to the data console and sighed.

Once he began the auto-hack, the entire stations would be coming for him. Even with all of his anti-security gene tonics, this would still take five minutes. He hated playing zone defense, but he couldn't deny that he was damn good at it. Draw a line in the sand, and kill anything that tries to cross that line. Shaking his head, Ryan got to work setting up the room.

He rigged the place with over two dozen cyclone traps, each one enhanced with either incinerate, winter blast, or electro bolt. Then, he placed up decoys that would draw hostiles away from him and straight at the traps. Finally, he drew his Devlon Firestorm V shotgun. He smiled. Devlon equipment may not have been the best, but it did the job well enough, and he liked the manufacturing company for sentimental reasons. With six minutes until the _Boston_ would reach the extraction point, the Splicer King activated the auto hack, remotely routed the incoming data straight to an OSD, turned invisible, and waited for the fireworks.

After thirty seconds, the alarms had pissed Ryan off enough that he was on the verge of de-cloaking just to toss a security command plasmid and shut it up. Before he could make a decision, his scout plasmid witnessed at least forty heavily-armed batarians running straight to the mainframe. As he expected, they mistook his decoys for the station's actual infiltrators. They rushed his convincing fakes without hesitation, and the result was devastating.

Unforgiving tornadoes of fire, ice, and lightning ripped into the oncoming forces. Twenty died instantly, and another five were out of commission with heavy injuries. Ryan waited two minutes while the batarians tried to figure out what the hell just happened before mentally triggering the remaining traps, all of which he had placed along the back wall, facing the door. When activated, they unleashed their electric payload directly at the door-turned-chokepoint. The sheets of lightning killed six more and stunned the rest. Now out of tricks, Ryan fired his shotgun, shredding the nearest batarian. His invisibility dropped just has he pulled the trigger on another one, killing him too. He got off three more shots, each scoring another kill, before the last four survivors were able to counterattack. It didn't do them any good, as his kinetic barriers held out long enough for him to fire a sonic boom plasmid, which sent three of them flying into the far wall, and sent the fourth straight out the open door. When the three that hit the wall didn't get up, he turned to look for the fourth. He had three minutes left.

Ryan looked out of the room and immediately wished he hadn't. The bastard had a Kishock Harpoon Gun! Barely reacting quickly enough, he raised his plasmid hand and used telekinesis to stop the mass-accelerated spear less than a centimeter from his eye. "You make a good point," Ryan said mockingly, "See for yourself."

He spun the harpoon around in midair and returned it to sender, nailing the four-eyed asshole's head to the floor. He now had two minutes left, and the auto-hack was finished and he had the data he needed, one planet's name in particular standing out. Collecting the OSD, Ryan's blood froze, then immediately boiled, when his comm. crackled to life with the words, "Would you kindly save us?"

Overcome with rage, Ryan's teleport left a small singularity in its wake. He re-entered realspace directly in front of the batarian captain that was standing over the two girls. With one minute to go, Ryan backhanded the slaver filth across the room, breaking armor and bone with the strength of the blow. With no time for games, he raised his left hand, totally encased in red fire, and snapped his fingers. The batarian's entire body was cooked inside his armor, burning him and suffocating him at equal speeds.

Extinguishing the flames on his fingers, Ryan turned to the quivering girls, and held out his hands. "You need to hold onto me, and whatever happens, don't let go." Hesitantly, they grabbed onto their rescuer. "Hold on tight!" Ryan ordered.

The Splicer King took a deep, calming breath. This was his greatest, and most dangerous, technique. Ryan knew that since Houdini Splicers and Big Sisters didn't leave their clothes behind when they teleported, then it should be possible to bring anything else along the same way. It had taken months of practice on the wastes of Retronuke Earth, but he could now teleport anything he wanted to bring with him, as long as he was in contact with it. It didn't work on big things like vehicles, and when teleporting other people, he was limited to two or three, but it was a serious improvement, and he was quick to teach fellow Supernova Eleanor Lamb how to do it too. No time left, he put all of his focus into the position of the _Boston_, and teleported.

* * *

When Hackett realized that seeing Lieutenant Ryan appear out of thin air no longer surprised him, the admiral began to question his own mental health. Saving that thought for another day, he ordered the servicemen behind him to take the rescued girls to safety. Over on his left, Cole and Alex were watching Ryan expectantly, so Hackett got down to brass tacks. "Where do I order the Fifth Fleet, Staff Lieutenant?"

Ryan looked at his Supernova associates – associates that he wished he could call friends – then turned his gaze to the aging admiral. Standing up straight, the Rapture Raptor saluted and said:

"Torfan, sir"

* * *

**That's it. That's all for now. I don't know when I'll post again because college sucks like that. Since this chapter was about Jack Ryan I'll say this: Would you kindly leave a review? And here's a small taste of what's coming up next time:**

* * *

"_Staff Lieutenant Ryan," Ryan turned to see Major Kyle "With all due respect, there's not a damn chance we're gonna make it into that central bunker! If we try to charge them, the casualty rate will be off the charts. Where are the non-military assets?"_

_Ryan knew that he was referring to Cole and Alex. Ryan knew exactly where they were and it was all his idea in the first place. Nobody else knew, but that was because Ryan needed the drama. It was also because they didn't know that this was actually the central bunker until five minutes ago. Either way, it was time to hit the pirates with something nobody in galactic history had ever seen. Activating his omni-tool, Ryan calmly said, "_SSV Boston,_ drop him._

_The Alliance vessel thundered into the atmosphere, totally unafraid of the GARDIAN defenses that Cortana was currently keeping offline. Nobody knew what to think as the cruiser opened its hangar bay, and instead of deploying a Mako or a gunship, a tiny, human-shaped figure fell out, followed by another one. As the _Boston_ returned to orbit, the first figure began to fall even faster, gathering more and more electricity from the atmosphere as it fell. The second one evened out into a glide, still at least twenty kilometers up. _

"_Lieutenant, what are they doing?" the major screamed, having never seen such a display of insanity._

_Ryan grinned with a mania that would have impressed Alex himself. "Council says that we can't use nukes! So we're dropping those two on the bastards instead!"_


	7. Torfan

**We're back! Only one major note this time. A guest reviewer asked what I meant by "pairings" and I feel obligated to answer. Most of you might know this already, but deal with it. **

**Pairings are when the author plays matchmaker for some of a story's characters, and usually pairings happen between either an official couple or a would-be couple preferred a work's fanbases. You want more than that, look up the concept yourself. Mass Effect pairings normally involve Shepard and the author's preferred love interest from the games. But this is an extremely weird crossover-fic, with Unique Shepard playing a strictly passive, but very important, role that I can't spoil yet.**

**I'm not saying anything else on that subject, so guest reviewer, I hope you're satisfied. Now let's get to it! This time, Ryan comes up with a plan that requires Master Chief and Cortana to steal some well-earned time in the spotlight. Then Alex and Cole go skydiving. Finally, the prologue to this story comes to an end when a new concept brings us to a very familiar conversation… **

**Warning: Spoilers for Halo, Bioshock, Prototype, and inFAMOUS**

**Disclaimer: I own the clothes on my back, this warm fuzzy feeling I get from writing, and that's about it. All fictional works shown here are owned by other people whose names escape me.**

* * *

Torfan

_2178_

_SSV Boston_

_War Room_

_FTL en-route to Torfan_

_1 year after Urmola Station Raid_

The extended wait that was forced upon the Fifth Fleet before they could attack Torfan made the four Supernovas grateful that time didn't apply properly to them. Cole had learned from Kessler how to keep himself from aging at normal speed. Ryan was technically only three years old, but he was "born" as an 18-year-old clone of Unique Ryan, made purely of ADAM, so his age was largely debatable. Master Chief and Cortana were suspended from aging by what Cole liked to call "Halla magic" in order to keep Chief relatively young and Cortana from going rampant. And Alex Mercer was a virus that simply didn't age at all.

They would have destroyed the pirates on Torfan months ago, but when the batarians sent evidence of Ryan's stunt on the Urmola space station to the Council, things got complicated. Even though Ryan's attack was sanctioned, as the batarians were a rogue state, the Council couldn't ignore the fact that he was genetically modified, an illegal action in Council Space. It took every trick Cortana had just to prevent the Alliance from facing censure. After more than eight months, the Council threw out the whole matter on the grounds that none of their own scans picked up anything wrong with Ryan in the first place. Of course, when his very genetic code contained sequences to prevent electronic detection, there wasn't much they could scan. The Council knew they wouldn't find anything on the third try, but the eight-month wait was their unspoken "price for privacy".

It might have actually dragged on longer, but a "batarian" was kind enough to run around the Citadel breaking Avina terminals. The "batarian" was never found, but he was last seen jumping out of a thirty-nine story window. No body was recovered, though facial scanning identified the "batarian" as a known participant in the Skyllian Blitz. The case had landed on the desk of a Detective Bailey with C-Sec. The human glanced at the file once, smirked, wrote "PTSD" on the report, and got it off his desk as fast as possible. Bailey then sent a message to Captain Anderson. He let the good captain know that he expected a case of Jack Daniels for letting Alex Mercer commit vandalism.

* * *

Three days later the _SSV Boston_ had rejoined the Fifth Fleet, and Hackett and the Supernovas began to plan for the assault on Torfan. It would have been a much easier matter those eight or so months ago, but it was obvious that the whole purpose of getting Ryan dragged before the Council was so the batarian-sponsored pirates could fortify their defenses. Now instead of a quick shock-and-awe, the Alliance was looking at an untouchable fortress. The rules of space combat prevented the Fifth Fleet from shooting the pirates' bunkers from orbit, and a ground war would rack up an unacceptably high body count for the Alliance. Luckily Ryan had a plan, which he had just finished explaining to everyone in the war room. They looked at him in complete shock, and again, Hackett was the first to speak.

"Ryan, this is brilliant, and coming from anyone else, I'd have them dishonorably discharged for being totally insane. The only question is, can the Chief actually do that?"

All eyes were on the Chief, who nodded in the affirmative. "I can handle it, but they'll be gunning for me once I've hit the GARDIAN defense systems." The Spartan turned back to Ryan expectantly.

Ryan had luckily considered this and said, "That's why you only need to make it _to_ the defense systems. Then you'll just wait until I need those guns down. After that, I'd suggest hauling ass very, _very_ quickly unless you want to be in Alliance Newsnet's Obituaries."

Chief nodded again, but didn't comment.

Alex smirked with his usual bloodlust. "Let's get to work."

Hackett sighed, "Agreed, we'll be dropping out of FTL in ten. Everyone, to your stations." The aging admiral turned to open a comm. to the fleet and gave the orders. "Hackett to Fleet: Torfan is a moon orbiting a garden world, so we can't scrap them from space. To make matters worse, their strongholds are built deep underground, so our only option is to go in after them! You will be under the field command of Major Kyle, but I've sent a little surprise for our pirate friends in the form of one Staff Lieutenant Ryan. You'll also want to know that the infamous Master Chief will be joining you at a later point as well. I like heroes as much as the next marine, but if you're willing to let two extraordinary commandoes take all the glory, then don't expect a ride back to Arcturus! Instead, try showing these Terminus bastards how the Alliance sent the turians crying to the Council for a peace treaty in the First Contact War! Win today, and never again will humanity have to suffer another Mindoir! Now, let's make it happen marines. Hackett out."

* * *

_Torfan surface_

_Repurposed Escape Pod_

The Master Chief and Cortana had spent a great deal of time modifying this particular escape pod. Now it served the same role as an ODST's drop pod. Since there was no real way to be "sneaky" in the middle of space combat, this was the Chief's only means of getting onto the surface of Torfan undetected.

That didn't mean it wasn't an extremely bumpy ride. The landing also sucked.

"Chief! Chief, can you hear me?" Cortana was asking more out of déjà vu than actual concern.

"Do you even need to ask? I don't think we landed on target." Chief was originally made a Spartan to fight insurrectionists and terrorists, and then the Covenant came onto the scene. Now, he was part of a fight against terrorists, and most of them _were_ aliens. This was the closest thing to Christmas for him, and he didn't want to miss a moment of it.

Cortana put up a nav-point on his HUD and remarked, "Your luck continues. We actually landed closer to the defense system controls than we were aiming."

"Closer?" Chief was instantly on guard, and he reached for his rifle, a Kassa Fabrications Breaker VII (**A/N Bungie seven reference, for the win!**). There were definitely some perks to having a smart AI in the back of one's mind. "If it was too close, then we were definitely seen landing. They'd send-"

"A scouting team?" Cortana interrupted. "They did. There are fifteen pirates coming by the looks of the comm. traffic. They just so happen to be coming from the direction of the defense towers. Shall we?"

Unsheathing the collapsible assault rifle, the supersoldier let instinct take over as he prepared to do what he had been doing for almost thirty years: killing those who attacked humanity. He knew that there were more… radical groups emerging that technically shared his goal. He knew that Cerberus was one of those groups. There was no way he would work with Cerberus, however. They were terrorists and extremists that made ONI look like good little choir boys. Of course, the Chief was proof that ONI produced better results. The worst part? Even Cortana could barely find any intel on them. They were that good at covering their tracks, for now at least. Maybe once these pirates were dealt with…

A distant voice shouting orders in a flanging voice reminded the Spartan out of his current situation. Diving behind a rock outcrop, Chief switched for his sniper, the Kassa Harpoon VII. He knew by now that the sub-harmonics meant it was a turian. They were born for military. They also looked and acted _way_ too much like Covenant Elites – Sangheili – for his liking. It was just strange to be four hundred years and an entire reality away from the Arbiter's people and find a race so damn similar.

Cortana noticed Chief's reaction to the pirate scout and returned her attention to her protector. Ryan and Major Kyle's forces could survive without her. The Chief couldn't, and hopefully, he'd never have to. "It's not an Elite, Chief."

For a moment, she got no reply. Then he gave a barely audible, "You're right," followed by a quick and clean shot that ripped through the turian's bony head. "It's uglier." Another shot, and the other turian pirate was breathing through its eye-socket, leaving the remaining scouting party in total disarray. "These guys are also a lot weaker. The Covenant would have had no trouble ripping apart this territory." Another shot, another kill. Soon, they would be onto his position.

"Not entirely, Chief." Cortana corrected. "If you didn't have me, you'd be in a world of hurt. They have a variety of tech-based attacks that can be done with a simple omni-tool. Anytime they try to mess with your armor, I have to actively counter their actions. An Elite wouldn't be so lucky. Of course, the Covenant still has the firepower to win in the end." While she had given her mini-lecture, three more pirates – one of them a human – fell to the Chief's aim.

"Last I checked, you can't hack a Hunter. Tell me more later, I've been spotted."

With that, Chief ditched his cover, and switched back to his assault rifle, running full-pelt at the nine remaining pirates. In a tenth of a second, Chief's enhanced reflexes and vision had identified two salarians, four batarians, two humans, and a krogan. Two short rifle bursts later, and there weren't any humans in that head-count. The nearest salarian lit up his omni-tool to do… something. Based on his frustrated behavior, it was likely trying – and failing – to do exactly what Cortana had mentioned not even two minutes ago.

"Cortana," Chief asked over the sound of gunfire and dying batarians, "Would this be what you were talking about earlier? Wait. Don't answer that."

He had no real worries until the krogan got closer. Mass-accelerator weaponry fired projectiles at higher speeds than their gunpowder equivalents. But the tiny metal shavings used as projectiles lacked the stopping power of actual bullets. Where kinetic barriers could hold out under heavy fire for a few seconds, the Spartan's shields could hold out for several minutes.

Currently, that meant his enemies' weapons were all overheating, and their target wasn't even fazed by their bullets. The next few seconds were a blur of green as the Chief planted his boot in the salarian hacker's torso, an act that likely broke every bone in the amphibian's body. The batarian on his right tried to flank him, only to watch over seven feet of armor jump clean off the ground, out of the pirate's line of fire.

Chief landed behind his four-eyed attacker, grabbed him, and turned around just in time for the other surviving batarian to open fire on his own comrade (**A/N: More cake for whoever can guess what Halo game has a similar moment**). Taking the dead meat-shield's rifle in his left hand, Master Chief opened fire with both guns, one at the batarian, the other at the remaining salarian. All that remained was the krogan.

Said krogan made his presence known with a carnage blast from his shotgun, which the Chief casually side-stepped. The two warriors ran at each other, and in what would be an increasingly common occurrence in the years to come, the _human_ hit harder. Ducking low, the hyper-lethal vector smashed the krogan linebacker-style, flipping the enraged alien over his head. Taking out his knife, Chief plunged it up to the hilt inside his opponent's head. Having learned that krogan didn't always die from lethal injuries, Chief grabbed his sidearm, a Hahne-Kedar Kessler X (something Cole had a good laugh about), and fired into the pirate's head until it stopped twitching.

"Nice job." Cortana said calmly. "And I'm only detecting two more life signs between us and the objective. Better hoof it though. With Ryan's help, Major Kyle and his men are making quick work of the smaller outposts, but they'll be- damn!" Cortana was frantic now. "Chief, you need to get to the defense control systems _now_! The Alliance soldiers – and Ryan – are pinned down by heavy turrets at the main stronghold, and the enemy forces are pouring out of bunker! Hurry!"

Chief was halfway to the defense tower by the time Cortana had said heavy turrets. Kelly had always been the fastest Spartan, but any one of them was capable of speeds that violated most 21st Century speed limits. It was less than a minute before he had reached his destination.

"Chief, dark energy spike on the other side of that door! They're biotics!" Cortana was really worried. The Master Chief had never faced down biotics. Hell, Unique Revan hadn't even let them onto his territory, for fear of what the Sith would do to the Spartan.

Not even slowing down, Chief simply grabbed his knife by the blade, and slammed straight through the door. Taking advantage of the confusion this caused, Chief tossed his knife at the glowing batarian straight ahead of him, knowing that a knife wouldn't be stopped by kinetic barriers. His knife hit the batarian square in the head, killing him instantly. The Chief didn't have enough experience with biotics to know if he could shrug them off, but now wasn't the best time for testing that. He took the safe approach, and slammed his right fist into the floor, locking his armor.

Less than a second later, a feeling of vertigo washed over him. It was similar to what the Chief had experienced when Cole hit him with a shockwave in a friendly sparring match, only Cole's attack had been much stronger, and Chief had taken that without going more than a few inches off the ground. Biotics of this caliber, Chief decided, could be outright ignored. Stronger ones would actually take an armor lock to withstand, but only powerful asari and some krogan had that kind of power

Releasing the armor lock, Chief got up, and walked menacingly towards the glowing human, feeling sick that one of his own kind would sink this low. By now Cortana would have informed Ryan that they had made it to the defense tower, and she was ready to hack the entire GARDIAN grid at a moment's notice. Until Ryan gave the order, he had a few moments to inform the man in front of him just how royally screwed he was. The human tried for another biotic push, and it hit Chief square in the chest. The result was unimpressive and barely even broke the Spartan's stride. Trying again, the pirate deployed a warp field, and actually managed to bring down the Master Chief's shields by twenty-five percent. Realizing that he couldn't hope to win, the biotic tried to run, only to see the giant green man grab his knife from the batarian's head and send it flying directly at his skull. His last conscious thought was that this was all Elanos Haliat's fault.

Chief calmly retrieved his knife again before walking up to the defense tower's main control panel. "Ready when you are, Ryan," Cortana said in a serious voice, ready to end this battle with the Splicer King's crazy – yet brilliant – plan.

"Then take them down and get somewhere safe to enjoy the fireworks!" Ryan sounded both excited and exhausted. She guessed it had something to do with the fact that he was dual wielding a pair of Devlon Stinger Vs, and dual wielding seemed to be a foreign concept to everyone else in the territory. It also likely had to do with the fact that his position was on the verge of being overrun. Even the Rapture Raptor could only hold off an army for so long while keeping the men under his command from dying.

Chief wasted no time yanking Cortana and holding her chip about an inch from the main console. Cortana "jumped" from the chip to the console, and flooded the system with an override command that would keep the guns down long enough for the Fleet to make a very special delivery. "It's done Chief! Now let's get out of here. Ryan said to enjoy the view, but I'd rather do it from very far away. See any nice scenic ledges on your way here?"

Taking Cortana and plugging her back into his head, Chief gave the faintest hint of a smirk beneath his helmet. "You told me on Delta Halo that I always take you to such nice places, why would today be any different?" Without another word, the Spartan made a mad dash in the direction they had first come from. This place wasn't going to be standing long.

* * *

"Staff Lieutenant Ryan," Ryan turned to see Major Kyle. "With all due respect, there's not a damn chance we're gonna make it into that central bunker! If we try to charge them, the casualty rate will be off the charts. Where are the non-Alliance assets?"

Ryan knew that he was referring to Cole and Alex. Ryan knew exactly where they were and it was all his idea in the first place. Nobody else was informed though, but that was because Ryan and Hackett thought it was better off this way. It was also because nobody in the entire damn Alliance had been aware that this was actually the central bunker in front of them until five minutes ago. They thought it was just another outpost until previously-concealed heavy turrets were pounding their location with rockets. Luckily Ryan had diverted most of the rockets at other rockets. Either way, Chief had signaled in, and now it was time to hit these bastards with something nobody in galactic history had ever seen. Activating his omni-tool, Ryan calmly ordered, "_SSV_ _Boston_, drop them.

The Alliance vessel thundered over the battlefield, totally unafraid of the GARDIAN defenses that Cortana was temporarily keeping offline. Nobody knew what to think as the cruiser opened its hangar bay, and instead of deploying a Mako or a gunship, a tiny, human-shaped figure fell out, followed by another one. As the _Boston_ returned to orbit, the first figure began to fall even faster, gathering more and more electricity in its hands as it fell. The second one evened out into a glide, still at least twenty kilometers up.

"Lieutenant, what are they doing?" the major screamed, having never seen such a display of insanity in his life. He was sure that even the krogan weren't this crazy.

Ryan grinned with a mania that would have impressed Alex himself. "Council says that we can't use nukes! So we're dropping those two on the bastards instead!"

This had been the plan. Once the _Boston_ was able to drop them off without the GARDIAN towers shredding her hull, Cole would strike first and the resulting EMP would take all systems down within that underground bunker.

Which was exactly what was about to happen. Cole was closing in on the stronghold's main entrance, now looking more like a blue comet of electricity than a human. Then, he landed.

_**BOOM!**_

The stronghold buckled under the impact, but the main damage was the shockwave that spread through everything not made of rock. All the turrets were fried; the power inside the base went offline instantly, and easily half of the pirates left on Torfan were cooked inside their own armor.

Cole got up and dusted himself off, turning to Ryan and giving a half-hearted salute, "Systems are down. See you leathernecks on the other side." Without another word, he turned to the side, and spark-stepped right off the battlefield.

Major Kyle looked at Ryan in disbelief. "You planned this?"

Ryan sighed. Major Kyle was a good officer, but he didn't fully understand how important it was that they dealt a heavy enough blow to the Hegemony here at Torfan that the four-eyed lunatics would give up their bullshit. They would leave Citadel space, and they would stop attacking human colonies. He couldn't take the time to say this at the moment, and he respected the chain of command enough to let Admiral Hackett make that point clear. "Yes, Major. I did plan this, and Admiral Hackett gave it his full support."

"This isn't war, Lieutenant! This is slaughter!"

Ryan had had enough, "And would they give us any of the courtesy you want to give them? I'm not a monster, Major. Any survivors after the next drop will be taken alive."

"_Next_ drop!?"

Alex wasn't able to glide very well in his armored form, but it was better than facing the extremes of space without his armor. Still, he was grateful when he saw Ryan paint the target zone, clearing him to bulletdive on Torfan. The Blacklight Virus curled up and dove, faster than when on Akuze, and this time he was spinning for the added kinetic hell. He was now only ten kilometers away. Then five. Then two. Collision was imminent.

_**KA-BOOM!**_

The bunker ceased to exist when he slammed into it, and Alex continued to fall deeper into the stronghold. After tearing three levels apart, Alex came to a halt, and he poured his biomass into the tunnels on either side of him.

_**SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!**_

Countless more pirates, both inside and outside the base, were shredded and speared by hundreds of ink-black biomass spikes.

"You are no soldier. You are a butcher. The Butcher of Torfan." Major Kyle said with zero emotion.

Ryan scoffed. "I kept our casualty rate at almost zero, Major. With respect, if you feel guilty for my actions, then you can oversee the imprisonment of the remaining pirates. I already told you, sir, I'm not a monster. But I do believe that a point needed to be made to the Hegemony. Look at your men." Ryan gestured to the celebrating Alliance soldiers. They were crying with joy, and the batarians had surrendered to prevent further losses. "Tell me, if I hadn't taken this route, how many of them never would have been able to return home to their loved ones? If I have a resource at my disposal, I will capitalize on it in war, or else I have to tell those loved ones that their husbands and wives died because I held back. Can you at least understand that?"

"Maybe he can't Lieutenant," Hackett's voice came in over the comm. Ryan didn't even know he was patched through. "But I certainly can. You crippled the batarian efforts to hurt us, and that's the most I could ask of you, or anyone else in the Alliance today. Job well done, Commander Ryan. Hackett out."

"Did he just call me 'Commander'?" Ryan barely had time to ask this before everything faded away from him, and the familiar music of Halla's flumes surrounded him.

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Explanation_

Ryan looked around and saw that Alex, Cole, and the Master Chief had also been brought here. But who had summoned them?

He got his answer when the great Unique Shepard appeared before them. They couldn't see Shepard's face, nor could they make out the commander's current appearance. Nobody in all of Halla actually knew what Shepard's nationality or gender was. The commander's powerful voice rang out.

"I'm sending you a few years into the future on my territory. They won't be needing you for a while. You've made a good impression." Shepard pointed at Cole, "A hero," at Mercer, "A survivor," and at Ryan, "and a tactician." Looking at the Chief, Shepard continued, "and nobody forgets a supersoldier. I'm going to give you this one bit of advice before returning you to my home: Make friends. It will make everything so much easier, and even the four of you can't stop what's coming without a few allies."

With that, Unique Shepard faded from view, and all four began falling again through space, time, and reality. They could all hear a conversation as they began to return to the territory though:

* * *

_2183_

_Arcturus Station_

_"Well, what about Ryan? He's N7, and the file says he's the best to come out of the program. No background though…"_

"_He doesn't have one. He just showed up in Rio standing outside the recruiting office running his mouth. A week later, he was practically running the entire N-School. A month after that, he brought slave raids in the Traverse to almost a total halt._

_"Ryan's good. He proved that in the pirate war up to and including Torfan, but that battle showed us that he wouldn't have gotten as far without MacGrath to balance him out. That guy's been fighting with us since Elysium, and he's not even Alliance."_

_"Both of them? We're betting humanity's fate on two rivals playing off each other's strengths?"_

_"That's the basic principle of humanity's methods, isn't it?"_

_"I'll make the call."_

* * *

_In 2176, four incredibly special humans appeared on the galactic scene. Over the next two years, they used their remarkable power to secure humanity's colonies from the threat of pirates. One was a sociopathic monster that could shift biomass at a cellular level. Another was a man who could absorb and discharge electricity, as well as bring it down from the sky. The third was an amazing supersoldier, over seven feet tall with countless augmentations and – unknown to the galaxy – an AI in his helmet. The last of them was a man whose very genes provide countless tricks and talents that he brings to bear on his enemies._

_The galaxy called them freaks and heroes in equal measure. Among themselves, they were known as…_

_**The Supernovas of Halla**__._

* * *

**That's the end of the prologue people! Next time, we are finally on the Normandy and off to Eden Prime! This is Blindluck92, signing off!**


	8. ADAM and EVE on Eden Prime

**We have finally made it into the real story people! I have just one announcement:**

**The Eden Prime mission will have a few minor alterations because there are so many people being dropped off. Don't worry; nothing major will be changed in the long run.**

**Okay then. Let's begin! This time, we finally begin our adventures aboard the Normandy. Alex and Cole hate elevators, everyone meets the Carth Onasi of Mass Effect, the mission to Eden Prime gets complicated, and as our Supernovas split up to cover more ground, the Normandy suffers its first casualty…**

**By the way, if you don't know Bioshock, you won't get the title. If you do know Bioshock, then this joke is groan worthy.**

**Warning: Major spoilers for inFAMOUS, Bioshock, Prototype Knights of the Old Republic, and Halo 3, and extremely minor spoilers for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.**

**Disclaimer: I actually do own all the games mentioned here. I bought my copy of each at GameStop with hard-earned cash. Lol. No I don't own anything in this story.**

* * *

ADAM and EVE on Eden Prime

_2183_

_SSV Normandy SR1_

_Arcturus System_

_Arcturus Relay_

_Destination: Eden Prime, Utopia System_

"Board is green, beginning approach run," the pilot of this marvelous ship announced over the intercom. Personally, Alex and Cole were more thrilled to be out of the damn elevator than to know that they would soon be hitting the relay. Honestly, both superhuman men were capable of advanced parkour in their sleep, and an elevator – on the most advanced vessel in the galaxy no less – taking over a minute to move nine feet was the only way to get from the hangar and engineering deck to the rest of the ship. The "genius" who came up with that little idea needed to die. Slowly.

The pair was joined by Ryan as they passed him next to the CIC. Chief had been content to wait by the sleeper pods on the crew deck. Those things didn't fit him, but he couldn't help but feel nostalgic. If he weren't on this ship, he'd be sleeping in one of these things back on his own territory. Just as the trio reached the helm, they noticed it was already occupied with the pilot, Joker, a lieutenant they didn't know well named Alenko, and that mysterious turian Spectre, Nihlus, who seriously had no reason to be on the ship. They knew enough about the organization to realize that if a Spectre was involved, shit was on the verge of getting very, very real. Eden Prime was nothing if not peaceful, so there was something strange about the guy. Plus, every time Ryan turned around, the turian seemed to be sizing him up.

"Hitting the relay in 3… 2… 1…" The pilot's announcement shook everyone out of their thoughts, and just plain shook the ship, as the mass relay sent them hurtling across the space-time continuum, and the relay's counterpart in the Utopia System spit them back out. The pilot began running diagnostics immediately.

"Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sink engaged. Drift… just under 1500k." Cole didn't have a damn clue what the man was saying, but Alex and Ryan were versed enough in the spaceflight department to know that his last statement was a sign of either extreme luck, or even more extreme talent. Only a slipspace jump could have been more accurate, and that's because it borderline cheated!

Apparently the Spectre agreed, "1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." With that said, Nihlus – whose name and facial structure both brought back memories of a brutal fight Cole once had with a Sith Lord – left the helm.

Once Joker was sure the alien was out of earshot, he outright stated, "I hate that guy." Ryan raised an eyebrow at the flight lieutenant's bluntness, while Alex and Cole tried not to laugh.

Lieutenant Alenko chose this as a good time to speak up. "Nihlus gave you a compliment. So… you hate him?" All three of the Supernovas froze at the sound of Alenko's voice, instantly associating it with an old ally from Unique Revan's territory, Carth Onasi. They took a look and saw that Alenko looked just like the Ebon Hawk's old pilot. They were in shock. To be honest, seeing a man this similar to Carth sitting right there in front of them was a little freaky. They all were hoping that Lieutenant Alenko didn't share Carth's trust issues too. That would be a pain in the ass.

Their gaping had gone unnoticed to Alenko and Joker, so the pilot just continued to his rant. "You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so that's incredible."

Disregarding the fact that they had barely jumped a fifth of the way across the galaxy, it was still an impressive feat, and the pilot had earned the right to bitch for the moment. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," hearing the Carth look-alike vouch for somebody was music to the Supernovas' ears. If Alenko didn't have trust issues, it made their lives so much easier. Getting Carth to believe that Alex wasn't a Sith monster had been harder than actually fighting Darth Malak. "The council helped fund this project, so they have the right to keep an eye on their investment."

Joker scoffed, "Yeah that is the 'official' story. But only an idiot believes the official story."

"Damn straight," Alex and Cole said in perfect unison. They knew the government had lied its ass off on both of their territories. Knowing that their pilot was smart enough not to trust anyone with a pay grade higher than his own was a refreshing change of pace.

"So there's more going on than the Council is letting on." Ryan had to give the man credit. He was no fool. You don't send a Spectre, armed to the teeth, along with the four most dangerous people in known space, not to mention an officer as decorated as Anderson, on a simple shakedown run at a colony that was basically paradise.

Almost as if on cue, Captain Anderson called up to the helm. "Joker, status report!"

"Just cleared the mass relay. Stealth systems are engaged. Everything is solid." Joker couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in that last statement. He had told Anderson he was the best in the Alliance, and he meant it.

Ryan listened as Joker warned the captain about Nihlus' approach, only to be informed the turian was already there. This time, Alex and Cole _were_ cracking up. "Send the Commander, the Master Chief, and their skydiving friends up to the comm. room. I need a word with them."

"You get that Commander? Super-freaks?" Joker asked with zero concern. They couldn't do much to him while he was flying the ship… he hoped. He turned around to see they had left without making a sound. "I wish they'd actually make some damn _noise_ when they walked."

"You're just afraid because you never know when they're actually behind you." Alenko chuckled.

* * *

Walking through the CIC, Cole snorted, "We're still 'skydivers' huh? Are we ever gonna live down that stunt on Torfan?"

Alex laughed, "I hope not! Did you not see the hangar deck on this ship? Replace that Mako with one of us, and we could do it even better!"

"Of course you could do better." Ryan said with complete sincerity, and a hint of amusement. "It's a _Mako_. The genius who designed that thing-"

"-is just as bad as the guy who made the damn elevators on this ship." Cole interjected. They all shared a genuine laugh that seemed to carry a simple message: Elevators in Shepard's territory _sucked_.

Ryan held back for a minute to talk with Navigator Pressly, having not seen the man in quite some time. Alex and Cole pushed forward and were met with Dr. Chakwas discussing "Spectre justice" with the rash, but promising, Corporal Jenkins. The boy was green as grass, but with time and experience, he could make at least gunnery sergeant. Once done listening to the marine's enthusiasm and the doctor's attempts to rationalize said enthusiasm, the two powerhouses regrouped with Ryan and met the Chief just outside the comm. room. They were less than ecstatic to see that the only occupant was the turian Spectre that had everyone on the ship buzzing with gossip and rumor.

"Ah, the heroes of humanity." Nihlus said, "I'm well enough informed to know which of you is which. Tell me though, what do you know about this planet we're going to, Eden Prime?"

Cole took the initiative, "Don't make small talk, Nihlus. What are you here for? And more importantly, how does it affect Ryan and me? You've been shadowing us since the beginning of this little voyage, and you can tell us why, or Alex," he gestured at the apex hunter, "will be forced to get blood all over this shiny new ship."

Caught off guard by Cole's bluntness, Nihlus didn't know what to say right away. He had thought he was being discreet in his observations. These humans (or whatever they were) had serious skill. Clearing his throat, Nihlus began again, "And you wonder why humans are called bullies. There's no need to threaten me with violence, MacGrath. But think about it. Is the Alliance truly ready for this? Are you and Ryan in particular ready for this?"

Alex had begun to lose his patience, so Ryan intervened, "Nihlus, it would be best for everyone if you tell us what the _hell_ you're even talking about because once Alex decides to cut loose, the _Normandy_ will become state-of-the-art slag before you have time to draw your gun. And there won't be a damn thing we could have done to stop him. So, answers, now."

Anderson thankfully chose this moment to walk in. "That's quite enough, Commander. I've trusted you so far to let your associate walk around freely," Alex snorted at the word "let" but said nothing, "but killing a Spectre would seriously damage the chance for you and MacGrath to join their ranks as humanity's representatives."

"Spectres?"

"Us?" Cole and Ryan both asked in shock.

"Yes, you're humanity's best. At least your humanity's best that look like humans." Nihlus let his gaze drift at Alex and the Chief at that last bit. "You were also the ones to begin and end the war with the batarians in Citadel space. No easy task. That's what the Spectres need these days: people who can get the job done. Plus, you two have a certain… rivalry. It's been noted to make each of you better and stronger when on the same assignment, like Torfan. You're drive to outdo eachother creates some kind of synergy that clearly produces stellar results. I'm no xenopsychologist. Frankly, I don't care if you beat one another into the ground, as long as you can complete any mission the Council would give you."

Alex crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, now satisfied with the knowledge they had been given. "So, what, this is some kind of Spectre assessment gig? You watch them operate, and then see if they can make the cut?"

Nihlus nodded in the affirmative, "Precisely. And the mission isn't really to test the _Normandy's_ stealth system." He saw they all were looking at him with an expression of "No shit, Captain Obvious!" so he gave the floor to Captain Anderson.

"Boys, a research team on Eden Prime found a Prothean beacon." As Anderson continued to explain the situation, Cortana began to detect… something. She had no idea what it was, but it reminded her of the Gravemind. She again felt like some unnatural force was pressing down from all sides, its mind infinite, and its power vast. She felt like she needed to breathe, which wasn't necessary, because she wasn't organic. She needed to let the Chief know-

"Captain!" All attention was focused on Joker, and the moment passed, letting Cortana calm down. She quickly began to reapply all the anti-Gravemind defenses she had made after Chief had freed her from High Charity. Joker was still speaking, "I think you wanna see this!"

All business now, Anderson told Joker to put it up on the comm. room screen. The image was… less than pleasant.

* * *

_Bullets were flying everywhere, but only Alliance personnel seemed to be getting hit. A woman in Sirta Phoenix medium armor ran over to the one with the active helmet-cam and yelled, "Get down!" before bringing her Hahne-Kedar Lancer to bear on an unseen enemy, opening fire with perfect discipline._

"Hot damn. Lady with a gun." Ryan remarked, almost instinctively. He had many layers of walls and coping mechanisms that kept all of the Supernovas from seeing just how much the Splicer King hated his own existence. Wisecracking and mild womanizing were but two of his defenses. Luckily nobody paid him any attention. The horror on the screen was all that mattered.

_Suddenly amidst the chaos, a man faced the camera and began to yell in hysterics. "We are under attack by unknown contacts taking heavy casualties! Repeat: heavy casualties! We can't- arrgh! [static] Need evac! They came outta nowhere! We need-"_

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN!**_

_Every soldier left just stopped and stared after that unholy noise filled the air. The camera turned to the source._

The four Supernovas had seen plenty of unnatural shit in their time: the Flood, the Blacklight Virus, Malachor V, the G-virus, Metroids, the X-parasite, the list went on. But nothing could have prepared them for what had made that metallic warbling sound:

_There within the planet's atmosphere was a dreadnought that greatly resembled a metallic squid or cuttlefish. It was __**huge**__. And it certainly had not come in peace. [end transmission]_.

* * *

Anderson ordered Joker to rewind and freeze on the image of the… thing they saw near the end. The reactions were all across the board. Anderson was carrying a grim expression to hide his confusion. Nihlus' mandibles flared outward in what was likely the turian equivalent of gawking. Cole grinned, satisfied that he had probably found the true reason Unique Shepard wanted four Supernovas on his territory. Alex simply stood there, having long since grown numb to almost any horror that could be imagined. He himself was borderline Eldritch, so he was in no position to accuse other shit of being "unnatural". Ryan was itching for a fight with whoever – or whatever – was killing the Alliance soldiers groundside. He would worry about big galactic mysteries later. Chief, unsurprisingly, stood stock still. Inside the suit, however, John was fit to be tied. The worst sense of déjà vu was shaking him to the core, and he knew Cortana's silence meant she wasn't taking it any better. She had been the Gravemind's prisoner, and if he was noticing the similarities, she couldn't be in good shape at all. Cortana actually was having an AI equivalent to a nervous breakdown inside John's head. She was on the verge of just curling up and whimpering, when Chief, by some kind of intuition, chose that moment to turn to Anderson, saying, "Sir, with your permission, I'll be heading down to the hangar deck."

Ryan caught on to what he was saying instantly, "Me too, Captain. We have a multi-objective mission now. If there are two candidates, one of us should be going to the beacon with Nihlus from Drop Point A, and I recommend MacGrath for that. Alex, Jenkins, Alenko, and I will provide the muscle from Drop Point B. Chief can cover the remainder of the colony that isn't between either of our drop points and the beacon. We can't afford to leave colonists to die when we have more than enough manpower for a full-colony rescue operation."

Nihlus, surprisingly, spoke up. "I like your thinking, Ryan. We'll make Spectres out of you two yet."

* * *

_Utopia System_

_Eden Prime_

_Drop Point A_

"It's not that I don't approve of the plan," Nihlus shouted to the hanger deck's occupants. "I just move faster on my own."

Cole shook his head in frustration. This scaly bird was among the galaxy's finest? "And if you're on your own, how the hell are you gonna assess our potential as Spectre candidates? Telepathy? Besides, that transmission didn't even get a view of what we're facing. We've got jack shit in the way of intel, so like it or not, we travel in groups."

Nihlus bristled at being told what to do. He had killed people for less out in the Terminus Systems. "I don't see anyone traveling with the Master Chief." He noted at last, feeling some satisfaction at pointing holes in their logic.

Alex was the one to answer this time. "That's because he's going in the opposite direction from us. We're all meeting up at the beacon. He's saving the rest of Eden Prime. Besides, by the time the _Normandy_ doubles back to Drop Point C in the residential sector, either our team or yours will have hopefully identified the hostiles. Then we send any mission critical information his way, and he takes it from there. Chief's _really_ good at killing things, but he's even better once he _knows_ what he's killing."

Out of time (and viable arguments), Nihlus simply nodded.

Over the comm. Joker reported in. "Now approaching drop point A."

Before anyone could continue the discussion, Cole simply somersaulted straight out of the open hanger door… landing forty meters below on solid granite. Nihlus sighed, and he leapt out of the _Normandy_ once it had descended to a safer height. "Perhaps you can tell me what that little stunt was about?" Nihlus asked with displeasure.

Cole just smirked. "You said that _you_ moved faster on your own. Yet I had to wait for you to safely exit the ship. I'm not bound by normal laws of physics and safety. You can't keep up with me unless I allow it. Remember that."

Nihlus was about to chew out the living lightning rod for insubordination, but then Cole held up a hand, as if he was seeing near and far at the same time. "We have company, and it's not organic. I wouldn't be sensing so much electronic gear on the move unless it's got legs."

Nihlus' mandibles pressed together in thought. "Eden Prime doesn't have a large drone supply, and security mechs wouldn't be here at all. What does that leave us?"

Cole closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and then opened them. Having found some kind of answer, he looked at Nihlus and said, "They're fifty meters ahead, and while they're not organic, they've got neural activity by the truckload. I've read enough history to know the one species that meets that description." He was no Cortana, but he could detect and decipher energy readings with his radar pulse. Usually it was meant to find electrical sources for a recharge, but it also let him read nervous systems. The mentality belonging to the inorganic signatures up ahead was totally bizarre. They had animal intelligence that got smarter – and better – with proximity, and they were sharing data at the speed of light. Cole felt a headache coming on, both from his discovery and what it implied.

Nihlus' subharmonics practically took over his entire voice as he spoke. "All teams, be advised, we have geth on Eden Prime!"

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Drop Point B_

Anderson couldn't stifle his swear, and he was pretty sure he heard Alex switch his swearing between three different human languages mid-rant. Ryan and Chief stayed relatively calm, but Anderson had been told enough to know that it was a hell of a party inside the Spartan's head at the moment.

Ryan spoke up. "This changes nothing. If anything, it makes our job easier, now that we know what's waiting for us." He turned to the Spartan. "We all good?" After a brief pause, during which only Ryan knew that Chief was speaking privately with Cortana, the supersoldier nodded. "Everyone, prep for anti-synthetic tactics. You've all fought military drones, and maybe even mechs, in basic training. Those may only be VI compared to the geth's AI, but that's what happens when nobody's heard from the geth in 300 years. We make our way to meet Team 1 at the beacon, and hopefully rendezvous with any local soldiers en route. Let's go!"

By this time, Alex had long-since jumped out of the Normandy, hoping for some action, and he was waiting for them when Joker released Team 2 at the actual Drop Point B. He took in the view as the _Normandy_ flew Chief off to kick ass and save as many lives as possible. Alex had to admit, even after all the destruction he had witnessed, the once-beautiful colony of Eden Prime looked like shit. Then the virus grinned, and turning to Ryan he said, "So what's it like to have brought ADAM and EVE back to _Eden_ Prime?"

Ryan's response was to put a bullet between his hooded associate's eyes. "Asshole. Move out team."

"What the hell was that?" Jenkins cried out, obviously in shock. Behind him, Lieutenant Alenko didn't look happy at all. Ryan quickly deduced that while most of the galaxy knew of Torfan, the specifics of Alex Mercer's true nature – not to mention Cole's and his own – were probably much less well known (or believed). Not at all ready to come clean about who and what they were, Ryan lied through his teeth. "I missed on purpose, Alex. Get your ass up."

Alex made a note to get Ryan back later as he stitched his brain back together within his freshly healed skull. Getting off the ground, he shot Ryan a look of clear fury. Ryan returned the gaze with an expression that said, '_we're even, so get over it.'_

They all proceeded forward, and on a hunch, Alex activated his thermal vision. Staring at the ground, he saw faint traces of heat and energy moving beneath the surface. The movement was far too clean and angular to be natural, and Alex smirked. "I knew finding that beacon here wasn't just luck. There's a whole damn Prothean city underneath these rocks!"

Ryan snorted, "Alex, you're a scientist, and I respect that, but a lack of things to kill doesn't change anything for the moment. I'll be sure to let the brass know that – Jenkins, stay sharp – that there may be a secret Prothean city underneath our feet, and the geth were willing to attack us for it. Jenkins! Stay the hell in formation!"

Jenkins turned around and grinned, "No worries, Commander! I know Eden Prime like the back of my hand. I'm itching to get the damn geth off my homwo-aaaagghhh!"

That was all Richard Jenkins managed to say as six geth recon drones flew out of the woods on the other side of the cliff and pounded him with pulse rounds that tore straight through his shields, his armor, and his entire body. Ryan swore, having known full well that he could have protected Jenkins if the fool hadn't wandered so far ahead on his own. Jenkins had wanted real action, and now he got it. Summoning a gravity well plasmid, Ryan launched the orb with a sonic boom plasmid rather than simply throwing it. This caused the sphere to burst in midair, resulting in the plasmid-based equivalent of a biotic's singularity. Being gravity based, rather than mass based, the plasmid actually captured all of the drones, tossing them around in a chaotic circle. A flash of blue from Ryan's left, followed by a massive explosion from his gravity well, alerted Ryan to two new factors that softened the blow of losing a good man. First, biotic combinations worked with some of his plasmids, and it was likely the same for tech attacks as well.

Second, Lieutenant Alenko, a man who looked and sounded so much like Carth Onasi, was a biotic, the closest thing this territory had to the Force-user. He would have laughed if he wasn't so pissed. Alex did laugh, but only because he _was_ pissed.

The idea of Carth Onasi moving shit with his mind was just so damn ironic. Of course a real Jedi would have sensed the geth before anyone on the planet had been attacked, let alone Jenkins. "Alex, what's his status?" Ryan yelled as he ran toward the downed, but barely breathing, soldier. He was already getting out a special mixture of medi-gel and biofoam that he and Cortana had worked on. He only had one of these, and he needed to know if it was even going to make a difference.

"Damnit Jack," Alex retorted. "I'm a geneticist, not a doctor!" (**A/N: Please somebody get the reference!**)

Ryan said nothing for a few seconds, but he stopped performing field medicine just long enough to briefly fire an electro bolt at his fellow Supernova. It wasn't much, but one of Alex Mercer's few vulnerabilities was electricity, as his fight with Specialist Cross back in New York had proven. It was why Alex was never sent to a territory without Cole watching his back.

This wasn't Cole though. It was Ryan, and Alex felt the need to put the Splicer King in his place with a few choice words. "Shit, Ryan, I'm not kidding! How many field medics do you think they sent to New York with Blackwatch? The slightest _scratch_ from an infected was a death sentence, and I don't tend to leave many survivors for treatment. There were no doctors meant to heal. They only knew how to study the virus and make it worse. I am an expert geneticist, mathematician, virologist, hell it's easier to name the fields of study that I _don't_ have a doctorate in." He paused for a moment as he watched Ryan apply the customized treatment, and in a whisper that Alenko couldn't hear, said, "One of the few types of professionals that I haven't consumed is the physician, Ryan. I may be a sociopath, but I have some standards. During my early, and most violent, days, a man who took the Hippocratic Oath saved my life from a parasite on my back simply because I was his patient." Alex's eyes were blazing now, and Ryan could only look back in quiet regret for assuming that he had consumed a regular doctor. Alex continued, "The real Alexander J. Mercer was a son of a bitch who sold his standards for prestige and a paycheck. I won't sink that low. My purpose is to hunt, kill, and consume. Nowhere in my creation was I _ever_ meant to heal people. Doctors take an oath that says 'first, do no harm', and I will be _damned_ before I consume any one of those good men or women, because my sole purpose in life is to _break_ it every single day!"

Ryan was about to say he didn't expect something so deep out of Alex, but that was when Jenkins began coughing. "What the hell just happened?" He managed to gasp out.

Ryan smirked, "You got shot to shit by a bunch of geth. I patched you up. You're in no position to keep going though." The commander radioed the group's Spartan. "What's it looking like over there, Master Chief?"

Alex didn't know what Ryan was planning, but he had a feeling the Splicer King wasn't completely winging it. His comm. piece came to life as Cortana began talking to both Supernovas. Chief's a little busy killing insane robots with a networked intelligence at the moment, but we've got absolutely no survivors. Need a hand over there?"

"Not quite, but Jenkins got hit several times in an ambush. He's not fit for combat, and he's probably-" Ryan paused as Jenkins passed out, "Yep, he's out cold from the sedatives in the treatment we made. It will keep him stable, but we need to move forward. How fast can you get here?"

Before Cortana could alert the Chief and make an estimate, Alex cut in, "Hey, I've got a plan. I'll carry the not-quite-dead weight towards the Chief and he can make his way to me. At the same time, you and Alenko can push forward, hopefully making some progress. Once I've got the corporal in Chief's protection, I'll catch up with you two, and Jenkins will be safe until we can get him a casevac." Seeing Ryan's hesitation, Alex added, "You don't really have a say in the matter, I'm just letting you know as a courtesy."

Ryan sighed. "Do it. LT, on my six! We're gonna scrap every geth between this point and the Prothean beacon, oorah?"

"Oorah, Commander! Let's get it done."

With an adjusted plan, the team split in two and each group went in a separate direction with a common goal:

Save Eden Prime from the damn machines, retrieve the Prothean beacon, and shove it up the ass of whoever had just picked a fight with humanity.

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Nostalgia_

_Commander Shepard's face lit up in smile, which did not go unnoticed by Revan. "Something has pleased you my friend?"_

_The former Alliance officer continued to smile softly, saying, "They've already accomplished more than I had been able to, and it's barely even started. My best choice of all may very well be sending those Supernovas to my territory. Still, even they will be tested by the coming fire."_

_Revan sighed and nodded. "I know Shepard. I know."_

* * *

**You thought Jenkins was gonna die, didn't you? No way could I be that cruel. One of the technical definitions of a "casualty" is someone who sustains an injury that prevents them from fighting. So I injured him horribly, but with that many badasses on the scene, letting him die would just make them look stupid.**

**Sorry that this chapter had so little real fighting, but I needed to get this part out of the way so that the next chapter can be filled with battling geth. All parties will get a moment (or two) in the spotlight killing lots of synthetics. I will be on Spring Break next time you hear from me, so I can guarantee you, it will be one hell of a fight.**

**Okay, so I've established that Carth and Kaidan have an ironic resemblance, I'll mention it from time-to-time, but it won't be a plot point.**

**I wanted to play Alex Mercer as having a deeper side too. This was a good time to show it.**

**Last, Cortana will certainly play a key role in the campaign against the geth, but don't think that it will be a cakewalk for her. You'll see.**

**Next time:**

* * *

_Cole was not doing well. There wasn't any electricity available, and he had already taken more hits than was healthy, even for him. That damn flashlight-faced sniper on the far catwalk wasn't helping either. He couldn't use a lightning storm because it needed a clear view of the sky, and he was crouching beneath a small overhang. By the looks of those shambling biomechanical zombies, his polarity wall wasn't going to keep him safe for much longer either. It only protected him from bullets and pulse rounds, not smacks to the head. Luckily he was largely immune to blunt force trauma… _

"_Blacklight Virus Strain DX-1118 Variant C, where the hell are you?" He yelled over the comm. at Alex. Not expecting an answer (or any timely aid), Cole dodged away from a geth destroyer that was far too close for his liking. "Personal space, camera-head!" He blew it right off the spaceport with a close-up shockwave blast_

_What happened next was pure luck, and if it hadn't been Cole on the receiving end, it would have been fatal. The husks had finally reached him, but instead of trying to eat his face off like regular zombies, these guys began to spark and snap with electricity. Just as they had surrounded the vulnerable conduit, they did the exact wrong thing:_

_They discharged massive amounts of electricity straight from their bodies and into Cole's. Anybody else would have been killed or hospitalized, but for Cole, this was just what he needed to heal all of his wounds and get back in the fight. He laughed. Zombies had accidentally healed him. He thanked them with a shockwave pulse._

_Turning to the small army of geth, all trying to reach a logical conclusion that could explain his survival and enhanced functionality, Cole cracked his neck and grinned. Not bothering to waste any more one-liners on robots, he spark-stepped to the side of the whole group and raised his arms back behind his head. Gathering energy between them, he borrowed a page from Kessler's book, pointed his outstretched hands at his foes launched a torrent of blue lightning in their direction. Spark-stepping right up into the remaining two geth's faces Cole grabbed each one by the flashlight and drained them dry. Now with all enemies dead, Cole smirked and said, "Thanks for the boost you freaks."_

* * *

**Read and Review!**


	9. Meeting New People

**Okay, so I didn't get this to you as soon as I was hoping, but what can I say? Organic Chemistry is a pain in the ass. Well, I'm on Spring Break now, so I should have plenty of time to give you more crossover goodness.**

**Also, the preview excerpt you saw in the previous chapter will not be appearing in this one, but the next one, which I should have for you all in a couple days.**

**Previous Chapter Edit Note: I was looking back at Chapter Six, Rapture Rampage, and I realized that a typo made it look like Ryan and Kai Leng had met. You'll now see that I fixed this, and they have not met, but Ryan had only heard Leng was an asshole.**

* * *

**Before I give you a really big action chapter, one issue must be addressed. (This borders on ranting, so feel free to skip to the story at any time.) I received a guest review from a guy who took the name "DarkOne" recently. He said that the Council would never "****accept monsters and freaks like Mercer and Cole as Spectres" because "Citadel government is conservative by nature." I will offer three facts (spoiler warning):**

**First, I thought I made it abundantly clear that the two Spectre candidates were **_**Ryan and Cole**_**. I never, at any time, tried to give the impression that Alex or the Chief would become Spectres. I've had this story in my head for **_**years**_** so I kinda know what works and what doesn't. As for the "freak" aspect, did you expect something different from a **_**crossover fic**_**?**

**Second, let's look at the situation. Humanity is being given the opportunity to get one (or two) of its own among the Spectres. So far, all Spectres, aside from Jondum Bau, are either government-sanctioned psychopaths, one-man armies, or both. Cole and Ryan are paragon enough, but they're no saints, and they certainly have the power, so what would possibly qualify them for Spectre candidacy?**

**Third, conservative governance seems to be the biggest problem every Council race seems to have with humanity and Shepard. As a species, humans improvise, and we possess a flexible military prowess that can beat back the turians, and we have done more in twenty-six years than any other race has done in decades/centuries. In short, **_**the Council hates on humans because we are clever and tenacious bastards who won't behave when asked nicely, and that makes us look like bullies.**_** After the Rachni Wars, the Krogan Rebellions, and the Geth Uprising, nobody on the Citadel wants to rock the boat, while our species is hell-bent on using said boat to make tsunamis. When you think about it, that's really the entire point of Mass Effect 1. Now what exactly is so wrong with putting Cole and Ryan's names forward as Spectre candidates when they epitomize these aspects?**

* * *

***Takes deep breath and calms down.***

**Sorry for the rant. I really am. But that was really bugging me. Now, how about a story? This time, Alex kills geth and hands Jenkins over to Master Chief. Master Chief kills geth while waiting for casevac. Ryan and Alenko kill geth, meet Williams, and kill more geth. Cole and Nihlus, meanwhile, find something far worse than geth.**

**Warning: Probable spoilers for Bioware games, Bioshock games, inFAMOUS, Prototype, and Halo games.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any work seen in this story, but I think you know that by now.**

* * *

Meeting New People

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2b_

_Alex Mercer_

Alex was actually enjoying this little hike across the colony. Sure, the geth had irreparably scarred its surface, and their attack would change the face of colonial development for several years, but that wasn't his problem. He was more interested in the new challenge of fighting off the synthetic soldiers – which he couldn't consume at all – while keeping the unconscious Jenkins from getting killed, either by the geth or his own brutal style of combat. Cole had always seemed to smile when he successfully protected others, and Alex had to admit there was a certain satisfaction to it.

He was currently carrying Jenkins in his left arm, and he had his shield extended over his forearm, protecting the marine from rifle rounds. The geth's pulse weaponry stung a bit more than the bullets from normal small arms fire, but Alex wasn't concerned. On the offensive, the virus was using his whipfist, as it was the only power that he could use without exposing Jenkins' human frame to close-quarters mayhem. Alex was also using whipfist to keep the geth's freak-shows at bay.

Dozens of human colonists had been lifted off the ground by thirty-foot spikes plunged through their chests, only to be brought back down as bio-mechanical husks. He hadn't considered them a threat until they began to discharge electricity. Alex managed to toss Jenkins out of the blast radius, but the shape-shifter couldn't escape before four thousand volts surged up and down his spine. Since it affected his whole body at once, electricity was not an attack Alex Mercer could easily tolerate. Luckily, the worst of the damage was a destroyed comm. link and a crack in Jenkins' helmet. Now, Alex was fighting smart, and killing everything with the whipfist. What sucked though was the fact that without a comm. link Alex couldn't warn Ryan about the husks he had encountered. Communication made all the difference in a combat zone, because if done right, everyone was on the same page. Ryan was still only aware of drones, and maybe he had considered full-fledged geth troopers, but now way would he know about the damn zombies the geth were making from the colonists.

The clicking and whirring of more geth told Alex he had his own problems for the moment.

Narrowly dodging a volley of rockets from the swarm of geth drones, Alex extended his whipfist to a nearby tree that looked like a large oak. Uprooting it with a small tug, he threw his wooden projectile at the drone cluster, taking out most of them. The two still floating didn't last long when Alex a hold of one and slammed it into the other. Then he took off running, lashing out with his whipfist at any husks that stood in his path. As much fun as it was playing combat babysitter, Alex needed to hand off Jenkins to the Master Chief and get back to the others soon.

Supernovas were supposed to travel in pairs on territories that _didn't_ have spaceflight. Here they were going in four different directions on a territory that did.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2a_

_Commander Jack "Rapture" Ryan_

"Was that the last of the drones?" Lieutenant Alenko asked once the explosions had stopped. They had just killed their third wave of flying geth, and it was slowing their progress.

"For now, but I guarantee we'll be seeing more soon enough," Ryan stated with an almost hopeful tone. He hadn't killed nearly enough machines to make up for the loss of a colony.

Ryan used his scout to look ahead, and noticed geth shooting at somebody other than them. He knew it wasn't Team 1, so it had to be survivors, and Ryan was eager to enlist their aid. Cancelling the scout, he pulled out his new shotgun, the Devlon Firestorm VII, and ran toward the shootout with Alenko trying to keep up. Anyone else would have been eating the splicer's dust, but Alenko was enhancing his speed with biotics. Ryan had to admit, the man was good. But the sight before him was much, much better. It was the lady with the gun from the transmission. This was going to be fun.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_2__nd__ Frontier Division, Unit 212_

_Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams_

She had to keep moving. She couldn't afford to stop running and fighting.

She was exhausted, alone, outnumbered, outgunned, and out of her mind, but it would be a cold day in Hell before she became the second Williams soldier that lost a colony to aliens. A couple of drones landed hits on her shields, but they held up under the fire.

Turning around mid-sprint, Williams dropped to the ground to make herself a harder target. She whipped out her sidearm, a lousy Hahne-Kedar Kessler I, and blew both drones away with a few pulls of the trigger. She was getting to her feet when she witnessed something monstrous.

The geth – at least she suspected they were geth – were holding a human over a large tripod, their synthetic strength keeping him in place. Suddenly, a massive spike burst out of the tripod, ripped through the man's chest, and carried him off the ground! Ashley thought she was going to hurl. Instead, she ran for cover behind the nearest rock outcropping, equipping her equally crappy Hahne-Kedar Lancer I assault rifle.

The geth were closing in, and Williams raised her gun, ready to give them hell, when the impossible happened. The geth began to seize up as lightning arced across their metal bodies. Ashley watched in awe as a man in an armored jacket with the insignia "N7" on it appeared out of thin air and used some kind of hook to clothesline one of the stunned geth. Man and machine hit the ground, but the man seamlessly transitioned his fall into a roll, returned to a standing position with shotgun already leveled at the geth's flashlight. Ashley noticed two things as he blew the robot's head off. First, the other geth trooper was recovering from the strange burst of lightning. Second, her knight in leather armor's left hand was completely frozen, and there was steam coming from his palm where it gripped the underside of the shotgun.

The geth trooper about to open fire took priority, and she was about to tell the guy to duck, when the trooper's shields were overloaded, and the machine was biotically lifted by another man who was approaching, a lieutenant by the looks of the bars. As if the geth that planned on shooting him had never even been a threat, the jacket-man casually raised his left hand, which no longer was coated in ice, and without any sign of biotic power, launched the geth straight into the rock cliff behind the tripod spike, shattering it on impact.

Jacket-man turned to her with a lopsided grin on his face, and before Williams could formally salute and identify her name and rank, he simply said, "Are you free today? Saving the planet is only so much fun with an all-male team."

Williams remained speechless, and the lieutenant muttered something about conduct, but the man in front of her continued, "In all seriousness, I'm Commander Jack 'Rapture' Ryan, and that's Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. We're both with the Alliance, we're here for the Prothean beacon that the colonists had found, and if you'd like to get some payback, you're welcome to join the party."

That finally knocked Williams back to reality. Snapping a salute, she rattled off, "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, and I'd be damn glad to help kill some geth. I also saw where the dig site is. Last time I checked, the beacon was still there."

Tapping his comm. the commander began to talk to some others. Without the frequency though, Ashley didn't know what was being said by anyone else on the line. "Teams 1, 2b, and 3, we've found a local marine who… Mr. Nihlus, since you're not the one over here, I'll judge her combat skills for myself… Yes, MacGrath, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams is a _she_… No I don't need a chaperone, and I resent the fact that everyone thinks I'm irresponsible enough to fraternize in the middle of a damn warzone… Okay now that's… No comments from Mercer yet… Chief, get to Mercer now, cuz I'm pretty sure that oh-so-brilliant lunatic broke his comm. link… Well, Nihlus, it would be nice to know that he's keeping Jenkins safe, among other things… No don't worry; Chief Williams said she knew where the beacon was… No shit there are a lot of bodies… If there's a spaceport, then check it out already. Let me know what you find… Ryan out."

Turning back to her, Commander Ryan tossed her his shotgun. "You're weapons are crap, so you can borrow my boomstick for now." Then he pulled out a pair of Devlon Stinger pistols, cocky grin back on his face. "Let's move out."

She made a note to ask what the hell he was talking about later, but for now, she just nodded and fell into step behind Lieutenant Alenko. One thing had become clear though:

There were others fighting the geth here on the colony. Eden Prime just might survive this attack.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 3_

_Master Chief and Cortana_

"I'm sorry Chief."

"Don't be."

"If I'm more careful, I should be able to-"

"No, Cortana. I don't want you trying to talk to these things again. It was too much for you to handle. You can barely keep them hacked for ten seconds. Stick with doing that, and monitoring their activity, but do _not_ try to tap into their minds."

"I- Alright, Chief. You win this one." Cortana had just finished giving in to the Master Chief's argument when two more geth troopers began assaulting their position, and one of them had a rocket launcher. Cortana's instant response was to hack the rocket trooper, forcing it to blow both platforms to hell with a point-blank rocket. Inside the Chief's helmet, the AI woman smirked. Maybe she couldn't communicate with a synthetic species whose mind was the size of a galactic arm, but she could still make life hell for anyone who pointed a gun at her Spartan.

A shotgun wielding juggernaut, flanked by two shock troopers, came at the Chief with an efficiency expected from machines. The shock troopers meant to suppress the soldier with gunfire, allowing the juggernaut to kill him at close range. Of course, they still had yet to understand that his armor was a lot stronger, and the shields were leagues above kinetic barriers. Rather than take cover, Chief ran straight for the juggernaut, narrowly dodging a carnage blast before simultaneously opening fire with his Kassa Breaker VII while using the rifle to lift the giant machine over his head. The bullet riddled metallic corpse had barely hit the ground before Chief had pulled out his Hahne-Kedar Kessler X and placed several bullets in the "eye" of each geth. They went down before his shields had hit seventy-five percent.

Chief was starting to wish that the Covenant had gone down this easily when he began to hear a horrific moaning noise. "Cortana, what… was… that?"

"Chief! On your six, you've got massive spikes in electricity. So unless Cole has six bastard sons, I'd back the hell away!"

The Spartan turned around and backpedaled at an absurd rate, watching cybernetic zombies fill the space he had been occupying with enough electricity to definitely cause some suit damage. Of course, they all died quickly enough, but as Chief went for the last one, his damn gun overheated. He was about to pull out his sidearm again, when a tentacle smacked into the zombie from the left, knocking it straight through the wall of a prefab house.

Master Chief turned and saw Alex stride up to him with the unconscious Jenkins. The apex predator unceremoniously dumped the marine on the ground, looked around at the dozens of dead geth that the Chief had killed by himself, and nodded approvingly. Then, all business, he said, "Get this boy a casevac, I've got to catch up with the others. By the way, you probably know by now that my comm. is blown. Those damn husks have a lot of kick in their electric pulse. Cole's shockwave has more, but not by much. Be careful." With that, Alex jumped forty feet in the air, landed on the top of the nearby hill, and with a second massive leap, disappeared from sight.

Deploying a Drop Shield over the incapacitated Jenkins, Chief radioed the _Normandy_, drew his rifle, and prepared to hold this point until the corporal was in Dr. Chakwas' med-bay.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Spaceport_

_Team 1_

"Just give me a second and I can figure out who killed these three guys."

"Then tell Team 2 that they need to do it. I'm not wasting any more time." Nihlus was now fed up with Mr. MacGrath's need to inspect and even _climb_ everything. His file said that he was into "urban exploration" to some extent, but that kind of lifestyle was supposed to be long extinct. Leave it to the humans to keep such a primitive activity alive.

Cole sighed in frustration. "Yeah, except Team 2 can't gain knowledge from the last thing to pass through a dead man's nervous system, can they? Alex eats living people and learns everything there is about them. I can catch glimpses of information from a corpse by sparking up the subject's brain for a few seconds. Works pretty well on the living too, but they have a tendency to resist."

Nihlus' mandibles twitched with minor admiration. Not even the asari could read a _dead_ man's nervous system yet here was a human casually discussing his ability to do so on a whim. "Fine, but make it quick. I think we've got company over on that landing."

The turian expected MacGrath to give tell him what he was "sensing" on that landing, but he received only silence. Nihlus turned to see MacGrath holding an outstretched hand across the human body's skull, just a few millimeters away from actually touching it. Just as the Spectre was about to comment on the ritualistic display, MacGrath's eyes snapped open, lighting began to billow from his arms, and he glared daggers at Nihlus. "These three were killed by a _turian_, Mr. Nihlus. Care to explain?"

Nihlus stood there in shock. There was no record of any turian living on the colony. What was MacGrath talking about? "MacGrath, calm down, and tell me what you-" a gunshot on the landing interrupted him. He turned to MacGrath, "Let's talk about this once we've taken care of whatever is up on that platform, okay?"

MacGrath didn't answer, instead free-running over a large assortment of boxes, leaving Nihlus behind. The Spectre sighed and moved to catch up. When he rounded the corner and found MacGrath with the shooter, the sight before him was beyond strange. Nihlus lowered his gun and flared his mandibles in confusion. "Saren?"

Cole barely even heard Nihlus call out to this piece of shit turian murderer, but he was glad he had a name to work with while using the bird's fringe as a damn lightning rod. His hands were dripping sparks all over the place as he looked at Saren standing casually over a human's fresh corpse. He was the turian the Cole had seen kill those other three, and he just killed this one too. Cole wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

Without a care in the world, Saren turned to Nihlus, ignoring MacGrath as if he were garbage, and addressed his fellow turian Spectre. Nihlus was quick to ask what he was doing here, and Saren's response was a simple one. Putting a comforting arm on his turian compatriot's shoulder, Saren said, "The Council thought you could use some help on this one."

Nihlus seemed to accept that answer, and Cole barely contained his fury, turning on Saren, Cole began what would be a two-part destruction of the killer's argument.

"Saren, was it? Why the hell did you kill the humans? That doesn't do us a lot of "help" now does it?" Cole tempered the rage in his voice with the knowledge that he was about to ruin this guy's day. He could fool Nihlus, but a radar pulse showed that the turian bastard was an enemy.

Saren acknowledged Cole for the first time, the disgust evident even on his alien features. "These… humans were part of the reason that the geth attacked. They were smugglers, and their activities invited that" he pointed to the massive squid-shaped ship in the background, "here to the colony, along with the geth. I apologize, but your colonists seem to have brought this on themselves."

Nihlus nodded, "a fitting end to criminals then."

Cole rolled his eyes at Nihlus' naïveté. Now for the second part. "Okay, then how about this? How in the _fuck_ did the Council think to send help when there wasn't even going to be any action? We haven't established contact with anyone, and no word of this attack has reached beyond this system. That leaves two options. Either the Council knew that geth would attack our colony, and chose to withhold that information from Mr. Nihlus." He knew that would get both turians' attention, and hopefully it would wake Nihlus up to the horrible truth. "Or you are completely and utterly full. Of. _Shit._ Guess which one I think is more likely, you bastard?"

Nihlus turned around to face Saren, having found a great amount of logic in MacGrath's words, and he came face-to-face with Saren's pistol. The barrel was already inside the envelope of his kinetic barriers. Spirits forgive him…

_Bang!_

Cole was expecting many things to possibly happen next, but seeing Saren pull a gun on Nihlus and shoot him that damn fast had not been one of them. Feeling like diplomacy was over, Cole launched a megawatt hammer – practically a rocket of lightning – at the maniac. He was surprised yet again when the turian effortlessly fired a massive biotic blast that collided with his rocket in midair.

_ZAAAP!_

The explosion knocked Cole off of his feet. When the dust cleared, Saren was gone, and in his place was a small army of geth. Cole was less afraid of them than he was about his new discovery:

Saren wasn't just a major enemy. He was a Supernova-class opponent that Shepard must have gone through hell trying to take down. Cole raised his polarity wall in one hand and primed a shock grenade in the other. This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

**Yeah, don't worry. You'll get more soon enough. But I owe you some explaining:**

**I previously mentioned a ranking system I use in this story. This is how I view it. From weakest to strongest, this class system goes (Warning! There are heavy spoilers for all Mass Effect games ahead):**

**Infantry: These are the guys that you kill easily and by the hundreds. They suck at trying to kill you, and in this story (plus the two planned sequels) this class is filled with the rank-and-file opponents that are barely worth your time. Usually these guys have crappy weapons and armor. They're lucky if they have shields.**

**Nimbus: This class is slightly better, usually serving as an elite version of Infantry-class. They either have high-quality gear, including shields, they can use decent biotics, they can regenerate, or all three. Most specialized versions of geth (hunters, hoppers, juggernauts, destroyers, pyros, and shock troopers) fit here. The collector soldiers (non-possessed) are actually Nimbus-class. The krogan and rachni you face in the games fall here too. Moderately tougher reaper and Cerberus are also Nimbus-class.**

**Nova: These guys are the sub-bosses of a sort. They are beatable, but you have to work for it. The members of this class will be geth primes, rachni brood warriors, exceptional biotics, geth armatures, colossi, Harbinger-possessed Collectors, Scions, Praetorians, Cerberus phantoms, dragoons, Atlas and YMIR mechs, banshees, brutes, and adjutants. Squad mates would also fall into the Nova-class range.**

**Supernova: The top dogs. This class actually is the broadest, ranging from those like Saren, and Kai Leng to the Reapers themselves. The four characters I've thrown into the mix (Master Chief, Cole MacGrath, Alex Mercer, and Jack "Rapture" Ryan) are all Supernova-class. The only real thing that separates Nova from Supernova is this phrase: "An army can eventually take down a Nova, but a Supernova can always take down an army."**

**Please do not flame me if you don't like how I classified the denizens of Mass Effect. I'm translating a video game's difficulty into literature form, so cut me some slack. The class system isn't that big a deal, it just was a means of putting Saren in perspective. I'll expound more on it when it becomes important.**

**Well, that's all for now folks. See you all next time.**


	10. You Have Been Called Upon to Serve

**I have returned! And I bring some news that you may or may not care about. It won't affect this story, but the sequel will be changed drastically. **_**Major**_** spoilers for Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, inFAMOUS 2, and moderate spoilers for the beginning of this story's sequel ahead:**

**Originally, the Lazarus Project would have been used to revive a certain character with a skull-face mask and Craig Fairbrass' voice. Unfortunately, it's been confirmed by the information we have for**_** inFAMOUS 3: Second Son**_** that Cole MacGrath is canonically dead. I could have lived with the "lightning bolt revival" if that had been the end of it, but a third game changes things quite a bit. I'll spare you the details, but know that with the way things look right now, the spectacular Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley from **_**Modern Warfare 2**_** will not be making his debut in the Mass Effect Universe.**

**Of course, reviews demanding Ghost's revival could sway my decision… I figure I should give you a say in the matter. I'd hate to write something you don't want to read.**

**In other news, I recently played the Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC, and that was the most fun I've had in a long time. That will be a fun chapter to write in the distant future… Gonna be one hell of a party!**

**One last note: I'll be titling almost all of the upcoming chapters (this one included) with words or phrases that will be familiar to you if you've played any video games. I offer no cookies or cake, but the first person to correctly guess what the title references will get special mention in the next chapter's notes. Don't try for previous chapters, as this will be the first. **

**Okay, back to the here and now. This time, Cole MacGrath regroups with Ryan's team, then sends them after Saren. Cole fights geth before regrouping with Alex, and the two of them reach the beacon in style. Finally, Master Chief gets Jenkins safely onto the **_**Normandy**_**. To end the day, everyone else saves Eden Prime, but not without catching a glimpse of the worst nightmare to plague the galaxy in the last 50,000 years…**

**Warning: Moderate inFAMOUS, Prototype, Bioshock, Halo, and Mass Effect spoilers ahead.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I play the games, I write a Fanfiction story, but I own nothing you recognize on this page.**

* * *

You Have Been Called Upon to Serve

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2a_

_15 minutes earlier_

In between killing geth and awkwardly discovering that the beacon had been moved, Chief Williams finally opened a private channel with Lieutenant Alenko. "LT? Is the commander really N7?"

She had been dying to know the answer to this question since seeing the insignia on Ryan's jacket. Sure, there was plenty of N7 merchandise for civilians to buy, but anyone actually serving with the Alliance had to _be_ N7 to openly wear the symbol. And even then, normally it was seen on their _armor_, not a jacket that seemed made for aliens. It didn't make sense, and if he was going to be giving the orders, she had to know he was legit. That conversation he had over the comm. earlier hadn't done a lot to help his case. Seriously, how could he talk about "chaperones" in the middle of an invasion?

Before she drove herself crazy with paranoia, Alenko responded. "Trust me, Williams. He's the real deal. You're looking at the Torfan Tactician. Of course, he was N7 long before that. Scuttlebutt says that he graduated in about a _week_. Off the record? He's got more than a few quirks, but who doesn't in this universe?"

Before Williams could make a comment on how the aliens never think their own people have any quirks, Ryan came to a halt and motioned for the two behind him to do the same. Slowly, he holstered the Stinger in his left hand, and he signaled the pair to hold position. Dropping into a crouch, the commander moved toward the set of spikes. Looking up, Williams saw that the victims no longer had skin, clothes, or muscle, to name a few differences. The best description she had was… dried up husks.

"Perfect place for an ambush," Alenko whispered, "so keep your guard up."

The words had barely left his mouth before Commander Ryan snapped his gaze directly toward the lieutenant and fixed him with a glare that clearly said, '_No shit, really?_' Unfortunately, the damage was done.

The husks on the spikes began to spasm, and the spikes themselves began to retract. Williams' stomach churned. "They're still alive!" Alenko shouted. Clearly silence was a moot point. That comment also earned him another '_No shit?_' look from Ryan.

Williams watched as the spikes lowered the husks to the ground, and once they had reached the tripod at the base, they just tore themselves right off! "What did the geth do to them?" she screamed?

Ryan simply cocked his head as if this was a mundane discovery. He chuckled, saying, "And here I thought they were impaling organics on spikes as a way of compensating for something! Weapons free!"

With that the team opened fire on the crazed zombies, which were now crackling with electricity. In a panic, Williams loosed a carnage blast from the shotgun Ryan had given her. He was going to need the gun barrel touched up later, but it was worth it when the closest husk was blown to bits. Alenko did well too, sending a second husk flying into the cliff across from them with a biotic throw. He was just in time, as it began discharging a ton of lightning just after it left the ground.

Ryan's new personal space invader was the furthest away, yet Ryan hadn't taken the opportunity to shoot it yet. Rather, after seeing them release electricity, he lowered his gun. What happened next made Williams go completely still. Her commander was doing something that just wasn't possible.

His hand was _on fire_.

With a simple snap of his fingers, Ryan lit the husk on fire. As Ryan had predicted, the fire was so intense that the cybernetics responsible for discharging electricity were immediately turned to ash, followed quickly by the husk itself.

"Well," Ryan began, "that takes care of-"

_Bang!_

_ZAAAP!_

They all turned their heads in the direction of the commotion. It was the spaceport that Nihlus and MacGrath had gone to check out. Ryan's gene-spliced blood chilled, and he barely spared his a two squadmates a "come on" as he barreled for the spaceport. He hoped for the best, but with that behemoth of a ship in the sky, he feared the worst, especially when it began to rise off the ground.

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN!**_

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 1_

_Present Time_

Cole cringed. That damn ship was making that unholy noise again, and it was taking off too. Dreadnoughts weren't supposed to even _land_ on planets, so this shouldn't even be happening. Cole knew it was a little hypocritical, but there was a huge difference between a living human less than six feet tall defying a dozen or so laws of physics and a two kilometer long spaceship flat out ignoring everything physics had ever said! Even while dodging bullets and frying geth, Cole felt like that thing was _watching_ him. It felt like Sasha, the crazy bitch from Empire City on his home territory, was trying to get in his head again.

A hail of gunfire aimed not at him, but at the geth, caught Cole by surprise, but he quickly recovered once one of the drones was hit with a lightning bolt that wasn't his. Wasting no time, Cole turned to Ryan's approaching squad, yelling, "Ryan, another turian Spectre was here! His name is Saren, and he shot Nihlus in the head! Geth covered his escape, but I caught his movement with my radar pulse. He's gone to the other end of the spaceport. That's where the beacon is. Find him, and end him, now!"

Ryan opened his mouth to argue, but Cole beat him to it. "We can continue our pissing match later Jack!" He knew Ryan hated to be called by his first name, since it technically wasn't his. "Saren is _Supernova-class_! I'll wait here until Mercer shows up. Go!"

Ryan's eyes practically left his skull at those words. He sprinted past Cole, using telekinesis to pick up Nihlus' HMWA VII assault rifle along the way. He turned to Alenko and a soldier that Cole assumed was Chief Williams, both of whom had yet to move, and screamed, "You heard him! Let's move!"

Williams and Alenko ran to keep up. Cole heard them as they left though.

"Hey, LT. Why's the commander taking orders from a civilian? Who was he anyway?"

"That 'civilian' is the Storm of Elysium, Williams. He's also one of the two guys that Ryan had airdropped at the Battle of Torfan. The other one is here somewhere."

"No shit? The skydiver part was real? We all thought that was just exaggeration."

Cole was pretty sure he convinced her otherwise when he brought a lightning storm down on the three geth snipers trying to kill them from the far cliff. He shouldn't have wasted energy showing off, though, because two destroyers, four shock troopers, and plenty of normal troopers took the opportunity to open fire. Cole wasn't fast enough, and he took a few bullets to his left side. He looked around for a quick source of electricity, but he didn't find one. "Oh, _shit_," Cole muttered as he returned to the combination of polarity wall and shock grenades. "This is gonna suck."

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2a_

_Tramway_

Ryan was grateful that Alenko and Williams were both so competent. They could easily handle themselves, and that made his job easier. He could focus more on killing the geth and less on keeping them alive. The linear design of the tramway made long range fighting easy, but Ryan wasn't content to play shooting gallery while a turian Supernova was getting away. He pulled out Nihlus' rifle, and turned to Williams. "Hey, Ash," he held the gun out to her, "trade me back my shotgun?"

Williams looked at him like he was crazy, so he elaborated, "I prefer close range, and I'd hate to let this gun go to waste…" That was all he needed to say before his Firestorm was being tossed his way. He caught it in his right hand while throwing her the Spectre's gun with his left.

"Give me cover fire," he yelled, while equipping his hooks. "This is gonna get tense."

Without waiting for an answer, Ryan took off running down the walkway, and when he saw his chance, the Splicer King activated his cloak. He kept running, but the geth couldn't see him at all. He knew they would become bolder in their attacks if the larger threat appeared to have vanished. As the first pair of troopers stuck their heads out from behind cover, Ryan caught each one in the neck with a hook, decapitating them mid-stride. He was able to repeat the act on the second pair of troopers before his invisibility wore off. Now he was left with a sniper on the end of the tramway and a destroyer hell-bent on blowing his head off.

"Commander!" Both squadmates were yelling now, obviously concerned for his safety – and likely his sanity.

Stunning the destroyer with an electro bolt, Ryan pulled out his shotgun and switched over to winter blast. He wasn't going to use the icy plasmid, at least not directly. With winter blast's freezing qualities, Ryan had discovered that could use his own hand as a heat sink, allowing Ryan to fire his shotgun almost endlessly. He had actually tried to determine how many shots would be needed to cause a regular cooldown, but he lost count at forty-five.

Pulling the trigger again and again, Ryan tore into the destroyer. Finally, its shields went down, but the machine changed its tactics, and began charging at him like an enraged bull. Ryan froze for half a second, the charge reminding him of Bouncer Big Daddies from Rapture, and then he blew it to hell with far more shotgun rounds and electro bolts than necessary. The sniper lasted five extra seconds before it spontaneously combusted via Ryan's left hand.

"Commander," Williams called out, "when this is over, we're gonna have a talk about that hand of yours."

Ryan smirked, and capitalized on the moment. "Don't tell me I accidently set _you_ on fire too, Williams." After watching her stutter for a moment, he held up a hand and said, "We'll talk later, alright? Right now, we need to get to the beacon, and introduce Saren's ass to my boot.

"Hell yes, sir." With that, all three got on the cart and waited tensely as the sped them toward their destination.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Saren Arterius_

_Beacon holding zone_

Hearing the combat in the distance was irritating enough, but witnessing that display of lightning from the sky was just disgusting. A human that could actually harness the power of electricity to such an extent shouldn't exist. No turians could do it. Not even the best asari biotics could manage such a feat.

Saren had believed the descriptions of Elysium, Akuze, and Torfan to be pure fantasy. Yet all three of those so-called "heroes" were here on Eden Prime, decimating his geth with zero difficulty. And that one called "MacGrath" had seen through his deception when Nihlus, a fellow turian, had been fooled. It was insulting. Saren's mandibles flared in rage.

No matter. They couldn't hope to stop what's coming. And it should be interesting to watch them accuse him of anything. The council is easily fooled by whatever keeps them feeling safe and content. Now all that remained was a loose end known as Eden Prime…

Turning to the geth shock trooper beside him, Saren gave his orders. "Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here."

Those meddling humans would never make it off this planet alive. And as much as he hated to admit it, Saren was doing them a favor by killing them with bombs. He turned to the Prothean beacon and allowed himself to be lifted off the ground.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 3_

_Casevac Site_

"Even a UNSC 'dumb' AI would know better than to keep sending soldiers to their death. They haven't even scratched the paint, yet they keep attacking you. What gives?"

Cortana was not concerned with the fight. These geth couldn't hurt the Chief the way they were fighting, and she had diverted more than enough processing power to protect her Spartan from their tech attacks. What she wasn't using to protect the Chief, she was using to theorize why an artificial intelligence was being so damn _stupid_. It was completely irrational to fight a battle they couldn't win, yet they kept trying – and failing horribly – to kill the Chief. She couldn't understand.

"Same reason you never saw the Covenant retreat," Chief responded as he blew the "head" off another geth with his sniper rifle. "They'd rather die than let us live. I'm not sure this really counts as 'dying' anyway." A geth destroyer lost half its body to a remotely detonated grenade. "I know you. You've noticed they've gotten smarter and more aggressive with each wave?"

Cortana gasped at the implications. "Chief, they're a networked intelligence! They're learning how you operate. They haven't lost anything but a few tons of metal! You're about to lose everything once they figure out this armor's capabilities!"

At that moment, over a dozen geth shock troopers dropped from the sky, all less than thirty meters from the Chief's position, and all armed to the teeth. The Chief tapped a few keys on the side panel of his sniper rifle, and he tossed it out at the mob of geth. The sniper's heat venting system overclocked itself instantly, and vented plasma everywhere. Several of the shock troopers were caught in the resulting fireball. Pulling out his Kassa Armageddon IX, Chief radioed the _Normandy_. "Joker, our position is overrun. What's your ETA?"

"Damnit! ETA: five minutes in this situation, Master Chief. Sorry." The pilot sounded genuinely apologetic, and the Chief smirked.

"No worries, Joker. That's four more than I need." With his free hand, he pulled out another grenade disc.

Cortana couldn't resist. "I bet you can't stick it."

Chief primed the grenade, "You're on."

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2b_

_En route to Team 1_

Alex let out a roar of frustration as he cut one juggernaut in half with his blade while kicking a hole straight through the other one's chest. These things just didn't quit. He knew that blast he heard was lightning colliding with biotics, and there was a good chance it meant that his closest friend in the Supernovas needed his help.

"Just hang on, Cole." The virus murmured. He flipped over a geth prime, grabbed it by the shoulders in midair, landed behind it and shattered its entire upper body on the ground. Looking up from beneath his hood, he said in a quiet voice, "I'm on my way."

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 1_

_Spaceport_

Cole was not doing well. There wasn't any electricity available, and he had already taken more hits than was healthy, even for him. That damn flashlight-faced sniper on the far catwalk wasn't helping either. He couldn't use a lightning storm because it needed a clear view of the sky, and he was crouching beneath a small overhang. By the looks of those shambling biomechanical zombies, his polarity wall wasn't going to keep him safe for much longer either. It only protected him from bullets and pulse rounds, not smacks to the head. Luckily he was largely immune to blunt force trauma…

"Blacklight Virus Strain DX-1118 Variant C, where the hell are you?" He yelled over the comm. at Alex.

Not expecting an answer, or any timely aid, Cole dodged away from a geth destroyer that was far too close for his liking. "Personal space, camera-head!" He blew it right off the spaceport with a close-up shockwave blast.

What happened next was pure luck, and if it hadn't been Cole on the receiving end, it would have been fatal. The husks had finally reached him, but instead of trying to eat his face off like regular zombies, these guys began to spark and snap with electricity. Just as they had surrounded the vulnerable conduit, they did the exact wrong thing:

They discharged massive amounts of electricity straight from their bodies and into Cole's. Anybody else would have been killed or hospitalized, but for Cole, this was just what he needed to heal all of his wounds and get back in the fight. He laughed. Zombies had accidentally healed him. He thanked them with a few slashes from his gigawatt blades – knives made from electricity that extended from his hands.

Turning to the small army of geth, all trying to reach a logical conclusion that could explain his survival and enhanced functionality, Cole cracked his neck and grinned. Not bothering to waste any more one-liners on robots, he spark-stepped to the side of the whole group and raised his arms back behind his head. Gathering energy between them, he borrowed a page from Kessler's book, pointed his outstretched hands at his foes launched a torrent of blue lightning in their direction. Spark-stepping right up into the remaining two geth's faces Cole grabbed each one by the flashlight and drained them dry. Now with all enemies neutralized, Cole smirked and said, "Thanks for the boost you freaks."

A red targeting laser reminded Cole that he still had a sniper on his ass. He put up a polarity wall with less than a second to spare. The sniper looked like it was fiddling with its rifle, setting up an assassination shot, which would tear through his shield, so Cole began to run for cover. He had taken two steps when a black and red blur flew past him, vaulted across the overhang, and pulverized not just the geth, but the entire section of rock it was standing on.

Turning around, Alex Mercer looked at Cole and smirked, "Sorry I'm late. Traffic's a bitch."

Cole laughed and shook his head. "C'mon, let's get going. The beacon is on the other end of this tramway. So is the Supernova-class turian that killed Nihlus."

Alex broke into a psychotic grin. "Supernova opponent, huh? Let's do this!" Without another word, he began running along the side of the cliff, following the direction of the train tracks.

Cole sighed in relief before spark-stepping down to the tramway. It was good to have Alex back by his side. Stepping off the tram, he put both feet on the tracks themselves. Sparks began to fly as he used his induction grind to skate along the tracks toward Ryan's squad, the beacon, and hopefully, that bastard Saren.

* * *

_Eden Prime_

_Team 2a_

_Beacon holding zone_

Unfortunately, this Saren character Cole mentioned was long gone. But he had left plenty of geth to make up for his absence. Plenty of geth and quite a few bombs. Ryan didn't have the proper skill for anti-explosive work, and he did _not_ want to find out what would happen if he tried any plasmids on it. Those types of plasmids and gene tonics were meant to cause various kinds of malfunctions in electronic security, and that was not a desired quality in a bomb squad.

Activating his comm. link, Ryan contacted MacGrath. "Team 2 here. Please tell me you can get to my location soon. I've got a bomb problem."

The group of geth shock troopers and snipers firing at his squad from the platform on the left suddenly disappeared as a boulder the size of a Mako slammed into them all. Ryan's comm. buzzed to life as Cole's voice came across. "That soon enough?"

The electric man hopped off the tracks, and immediately drained the bomb completely dry. "Give me cover fire, and I'll get the rest." Cole said.

The process was largely uneventful. Ryan and his squad gave fire support, Alex shredded what they didn't shoot, and Cole simply walked up to the bombs and shut them down with a quick drain.

They saw the beacon on a large platform below them, and after eliminating the last of the geth, and husks, everyone was in moderately good spirits. Then they looked out at the horizon and time seemed to freeze. "No fucking way," was all Alex could say.

Everyone was looking at the place where the giant ship had been before leaving. The entire area was fire, ash, and glass. And everything was red as the flames of hell.

Nobody was taking the view well, but Cole MacGrath had it the worst. The image in front of him could have passed for ground zero back in Empire City, only flame red instead of ink black. Having that knowledge return to the forefront of his mind wasn't pleasant, so he demanded that Ryan call in the _Normandy_ for pickup. The mission was done, but things had gone FUBAR in the process. One Spectre killed by another Spectre working with geth was not exactly smooth sailing.

Ryan sighed, and contacted Joker. "We've got the beacon, and we're waiting extraction."

Williams walked up the beacon, intrigued by the swirling energy. "It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up." She stepped closer. "Something must have activated it."

"Roger _Normandy_, standing by." Ryan said with an uncommon discipline. Cole noted that perhaps the Alliance was a good fit for him after all.

Suddenly, the beacon went nuts, and it began pulling Ashley closer towards it.

When Ryan turned around and saw what was happening, he ran straight for Williams without any hesitation. Lifting her as if she weighed nothing, he gently ripped her from the beacon's grasp and threw her gently outside the radius of its mass effect fields. He then mentally activated a teleport, trying to get to safety.

But nothing happened. He was now trapped by the beacon. Resisting its pull as best he could, Ryan looked at the others for some kind of help.

"Alex!" Cole yelled, "Get him away from that thing. I doubt its fields are strong enough to even move you!"

Alex grunted, and hurried towards Ryan. Just as he was about to grab Ryan by the collar and walk away from the freaky Prothean tech, the field actually lifted Ryan off the ground. It was trying to lift Alex too, but the viral hunter was far too heavy. That wasn't what stopped Alex in his tracks, though.

It was the fact that hell on earth just broke loose inside Alex Mercer's skull, and his last coherent thought was that Ryan was probably getting this too.

"Ryan!" Ashley shouted, reaching out to the man that had just taken her place as the beacon's victim. Cole stopped her though. She heard somebody say something about "too dangerous" but it was drowned out by an inhuman noise:

The sound of Alex Mercer, curled on the ground, clutching his head and shrieking in agonizing pain as the Prothean beacon forced memories into his head that he couldn't comprehend.

* * *

_Web of Intrigue Unknown Node:_

_[Indecipherable Origin of Memories]_

_Death; pain; not his, but everyone's. These images are not made for the mind like his. He can see the pictures though, that's all he can clearly interpret. The words are lost on him._

_Searing hot metal tears flesh from bone. Synthetics – he doesn't know what kind – slaughter organics without mercy. The ones unlucky enough to live are… he can't make out what they are. So much death, and it's happening faster than what should be possible. There is only one way to describe what he was witnessing:_

_Xenocide at the hands of machines._

_End of Unknown Node_

* * *

The vision had ended, and the beacon had even exploded, but Ryan lay unconscious, and Alex was curled up in a fetal position, gasping in pain. Cole had once told him that every time he consumed somebody, the process of gaining their memories was quite painful. This was totally new though. It had been years since Cole had seen his viral friend actually flinch while experiencing new memories. It was actually Alex's greatest weakness. Whatever that beacon had shoved inside his head must have been ugly as sin. And it knocked Ryan out too, even though he had a – relatively – normal nervous system.

Cole looked at Williams and Alenko, then radioed the Chief, "Hey big man, we're gonna need your help."

"With what?" The response came with zero emotion, but he could tell the Spartan was really worried. Cortana had likely felt the beacon's energy spike just like Cole did.

"Nothing major," Cole said bitterly, "Just a multi-ton virus lying on the floor in a catatonic state. You're the only one who can actually pick him up."

"Copy that." Chief opened a new comm. "Joker, what's our ETA?"

"A minute at most. Anxious to see the beacon?"

Chief thought for a moment, then responded in the same way that an old ally would have.

"Were it so easy."

Anderson walked up at that moment, looking concerned. "What's going on, Chief? Permission to speak freely."

Chief cocked his helmeted head, then said, "Respectfully sir, we just saved the colony, but the mission was a complete failure."

The _Normandy's_ cargo bay opened, and Anderson watched as the giant man walked out onto the platform, lifted his hooded friend with some difficulty, and carried him back onto the ship without a word. When Anderson saw the look in the ground team's eyes as they followed the Spartan, he knew one thing clearly.

These heroes had just busted their asses to save a colony, and it would be a cold day in hell before he let the Council treat them as anything less.

* * *

**Alright. Now we're getting somewhere. I have no endnotes. Just read, review, and enjoy. Next time, we hit the Citadel, and make some serious progress.**


	11. We Have Dismissed This Claim

**Okay, so we're back for another chapter.**

**I received a guest review about "mission recorders" for Chapter 9: Meeting New People, and I have to say that's the dumbest statement I've ever seen. I deleted it for being vague as all hell, so don't look for it. But the review seemed to be saying that Nihlus' body should be searched for a "mission recorder" which would prove that he had been killed by Saren. Well now, whoever sent that, you do realize if such information was used, there would be no need **_**find**_** evidence that implicates Saren? Which would then remove the need to recruit Garrus, Wrex, and Tali? Then where would we be? The game would have sucked, and this story would suck.**** Sorry if this sounds harsh, but don't think for a moment that I overlooked something so simple as "mission recorders" just because they didn't show up in the story.**

**On that note, if I misunderstood you're message, guest reviewer, then maybe you should try using this wacky idea I like to call a complete sentence. If you used it, I have a much easier time understanding you.**

**Oh, I also got another guest review that said, "Please don't make a gay pairing between Cole and Alex." I thought I covered this in Chapter 6. _They aren't going to be paired with each other_. I won't repeat myself again. **

**Okay, I'm done venting. On to the matter at hand. This time, Ryan and Alex wake up on the **_**Normandy**_** for debriefing, Second, Alex takes a trip to Chora's Den. Then, the **_**Normandy**_** team turns a one-sided argument into an unforgettable debate in the best Council meeting ever. Oh, and everyone still hates elevators.**

**Warning: Same spoilers as the previous chapter lie ahead.**

**Disclaimer: I own jack shit.**

* * *

We Have Dismissed This Claim

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_En route to Citadel_

_15 hours post-mission_

"Mr. MacGrath, do you have a moment?" Cole turned to see the kindly Dr. Chakwas looking at him. He could have said no, since he really wanted to process the day's events, but if there was one thing that his relationship with Trish had taught him, it was that doctors don't take "no" for an answer.

"Doc, I usually get called 'Mr. MacGrath' by people who want me dead or locked up. Call me Cole. Now, what can I do for you?" The doctor motioned for him to follow, before making brisk strides into the med-bay.

"I can't get a solid scan of any kind on Dr. Mercer. For lack of a better phrase, his DNA won't sit still. You know that already though, and since it's not the problem I'll let that matter slide. What I want to know is why he's exhibiting all the signs of intense dreaming – rapid eye movement, abnormal beta waves, et cetera – if he's clearly awake." With that, Chakwas gestured to Alex, who was lying on one of the beds. The viral man was awake, yet for all intents and purposes, in a deep sleep.

Cole looked at his friend then began to laugh. He turned to Chakwas and said, "Doc, Alex isn't exactly capable of sleep, let alone dreams. He can, however, remember with perfect clarity, much like a drell." Chakwas motioned for him to continue, "When he remembers things that he didn't learn… naturally, the experience is painful." Cole walked over to Alex's side, "And that beacon was the furthest thing there is from natural. He's lost inside his own head. I'll bring him out."

With that, Cole grabbed his comrade by the skull, said a sarcastic "clear," and sent several hundred volts down his hand and into Alex's body. The response was instantaneous. Alex sprung into a sitting position, and began to cough as if trying to re-learn how to breathe on his own. When he calmed down, his first action was to take in his surroundings; his second was to flip Cole off. Cole shrugged, and prepared to repeat the ordeal with Ryan.

"No, wait!" Chief Williams yelled. "Are you sure this is necessary? Would the Commander even react the same way?"

Both men looked at her with an amused expression. It was touching, in that cavity-inducing sort of way. Unfortunately, Williams' concern for her commander was going to deny them the petty thrill of electrocuting Ryan for a legitimate reason. Cole smirked, "Clear."

* * *

_2 minutes later_

"You guys are assholes. You know that, right?"

"I can always put you _back_ to sleep, if you'd like."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "At least tell me what the hell happened back there?"

Williams was the one to field that question. "It's my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."

Alex and Cole tried not to crack up. It was definitely a serious matter, but knowing that Ryan had to say something nice was priceless. After all, it wasn't as if he could say that he had mysteriously lost the ability to teleport. That tended to get negative responses.

Ryan sighed, "Don't sweat it. Like you said, the beacon wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up. It was probably Saren's work. Thus, I'm blaming him for my shore leave caliber headache."

Dr. Chakwas looked grim. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to determine what set it off. You may not know this, but when it released its hold on the two of you, the bloody thing exploded.

Both men swore, before turning to Cole. They weren't looking for sympathy, but silently asking if he and maybe Cortana had lifted something useful before it exploded. Cole gave them a slight twitch in the affirmative that wouldn't be noticed by anyone without enhanced senses.

Williams again chimed in, "it may have been a system overload, you and the multi-ton man with the hood," she nodded towards Mercer, "were out cold. So a giant man in green armor carried him, and Lieutenant Alenko helped me carry you back to the _Normandy_."

Ryan grinned at the woman, "You have no idea how much I appreciate being carried by you instead of our resident light socket."

Williams gave a small smile, then frowned and said, "Don't think this means I've forgotten about all the crazy shit you did with your left hand, Commander. I'll want answers soon enough."

Ryan pointed at his head, "Note the shore leave caliber headache."

Cole was about to point out that, back in Rapture, both the original Jack Ryan and the Supernova in front of him would often get utterly _wasted_ in the middle of firefights, and they would always be just fine. Luckily for the Splicer King, Captain Anderson chose that moment to walk into the med-bay, requesting for some privacy with the trio of powerhouses. Once Williams and Chakwas had left, the captain tiredly asked how they were holding up.

Alex snorted, "We're apparently a hell of a lot better than Jenkins. There are only two beds in here, and he wasn't on either. Don't tell me he didn't make it after I spent all that time hauling his ass across the colony."

Cole chuckled at that, "I think we forgot to mention one thing. You guys have been out cold for roughly fifteen hours. Despite my protests, Jenkins and Ryan got the beds until we met up with the _Moscow_ about four hours ago. It was the closest Alliance ship making its way back to Arcturus, and it had a larger med bay. Docs over there assured us he'll be fine. That was when the Chief came in here and put your ass on the bed. We're all amazed you didn't break it."

Anderson held up his hand. "We'll be arriving at the Citadel soon enough. If I can get a statement from you two of you, that would be good. I've already spoken with Cole, the Master Chief, and his… copilot."

"Of course, sir," Ryan said respectfully, "but if I may, why is Chief Williams here?" This comment earned him a two-pronged smack to the back of the head, courtesy of Alex and Cole.

Anderson resisted the urge to laugh at what were basically the Three Stooges with super powers and superior intelligence. "Gunnery Chief Williams is a good soldier, as you likely noticed on Eden Prime. And with Jenkins out of commission for the foreseeable future, she's been reassigned to the _Normandy_'s crew."

Ryan nodded, stating she was a fine soldier before immediately dodging his associates' blows. "Okay that's enough! Will you at least act civilized in front of the Captain? This is a damn Alliance warship, and we're off to a rocky start as 'humanity's finest' without the bitch slapping routine!"

Anderson grunted, "Commander Ryan's right on that one. Between Nihlus' death, the beacon's destruction, and the geth, we have some serious explaining to do. The Council's going to want answers, and the official report accuses Saren, their best agent, of going rogue and causing all of this. Saren is dangerous, and he _hates_ humans."

Cole growled. "There's no way he just made nice with the geth to kill some on the edge of the Terminus systems. Whatever that beacon had was really important to him. I plan to find out what he knows, and whether I just have to ask nicely tear off Saren's mandibles to get answers is entirely up to him."

Alex let out a cross between a snarl and a hiss, "Count me in. I'm itching to 'thank' him for whatever that beacon did to me."

"That stunt with the beacon is actually our best bet," Anderson said sternly. His expression made it transparently clear that they were not to be carving a bloody swath through the galaxy in search of Saren. He couldn't have physically stopped them in any way, but he had enough of their respect that they would defer to his judgment. "What exactly did the beacon _do_? Was there anything that can be used to help us here? Dr. Chakwas said you were both dreaming…"

Alex looked at Ryan, apparently demanding that Ryan step up and let the virus avoid another headache. Ryan closed his eyes, trying to remember the vision with the slightest hint of clarity. "I saw what may have been the worst act of slaughter in existence. Machines were brutalizing organics. I didn't recognize either faction. I'm pretty sure it was meant to be viewed by Protheans only." Alex mumbled something about being warned ahead of time. Ryan shook his head and sighed, "It won't do us much good, and it may even undermine out case. In the end, its MacGrath's word against Saren's."

MacGrath nodded at that. "I'm not too concerned. I caught him in his lies once, and I can do it again."

Anderson looked at the three men standing in front of him. They were about to charge a Spectre with treason, and the evidence was shoddy at best. The Council was difficult on its best days, yet these boys were totally unafraid of standing before the seat of galactic power and saying that their best agent had gone rogue. He was impressed, and a bit concerned for their sanity. "Alright then. We should be reaching the Citadel soon, so tell Joker to pull us in to dock. You three will be arguing the case against Saren, but the Chief had no connection. What he does is up to him."

Ryan laughed as they left the med-bay. "A assure you, sir, his 'copilot' will demand he take her to see the sights. Cole, Alex, you guys can do as you please once we dock. I'm going straight for the embassies.

* * *

_Saren Arterius_

_Unkown ship_

_En route to Virmire_

Saren was leaning back in his chair when the asari Matriarch approached. No doubt she brought news of Eden Prime's destruction. She cleared her throat before saying, "We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime. The _Normandy_. A human Alliance vessel. It was under the command of Captain Anderson." Saren tensed up with pure hatred at the mention of that name, but the black-clad Matriarch continued, "They managed to save the colony."

This was unacceptable, but before he lost his temper, Saren had to know one thing, "And the beacon?"

With perfect discipline, the Matriarch responded, "two… individuals may have used it."

Saren was furious, and not just because so much of his efforts on Eden Prime had been jeopardized, but because a couple of pathetic _humans_ had the audacity to try and rise above their stations as an inferior species. They couldn't hope to stop what was coming, yet the "heroics" of these few was a major annoyance nonetheless. That's all humans knew how to be: annoyances.

Flying into a rage, Saren roared and tossed about anything not attached to the floor. He almost hit the asari with one of his thrown projectiles. Storming up to her, he grabbed her head with both hands and brought her face an inch away from his with a snarl. Yet she made no effort to escape, and showed no sign of fear. Calming down, Saren released the calm asari, and said in a deep growl, "These 'individuals' must be _eliminated_."

With that, he strode out of the room. He had to look and act the part of the falsely-accused Spectre, or even the witless Councilors might have a few doubts. Anderson was involved, though, and that would definitely work in his favor. After all, these were mere humans he was defending against. How bad could it be?

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Approaching Citadel Station_

"Why so touchy Joker," Williams said with a teasing voice. Nobody was going to side with Joker on this one. Any man stupid enough to say that "size isn't everything" is obligated to find his own way out of the hole he just dug. Ryan especially knew that Joker was a goner, having talked with Williams earlier in the mess hall.

The pilot remained unaffected, "I'm just saying you need firepower too."

"Look at that monster," Williams pointed out. "Its main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet!" The four Supernovas looked at the ship, each noting that it was barely half the size of that thing that had attacked Eden Prime.

"Good thing it's on our side, then," Alenko commented.

Alex muttered something about the definition of "our side" while Joker got permission to dock. Soon enough, the _Normandy_ had pulled into a hangar bay, and the docking clamps latched onto the frigate.

Ryan turned to everyone, "Shall we?" The team of six, along with Anderson, left the ship and headed for the embassies on the Presidium. But Cole and Alex were horrified to learn there was one thing in their way:

More of those damn _elevators_.

The look on their faces told Ryan that there was about to be a very large bill to pay. His suspicions were confirmed as Cole used his mastery of lightning to force the elevator to descend faster than it was designed. "Now I have two reasons to hate the Protheans," Alex stated with complete sincerity. "Their beacons hurt like a bitch, and their elevators are just plain _sad_."

* * *

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Human Embassy_

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus systems, Ambassador." Ryan could hear Valern, the salarian Councilor, through the door, and against his better judgment chose to walk in at this moment.

"Gee, Councilor," Ryan droned in a mocking voice, "Could it have anything to do with the fact that you send humanity to found the colonies first, only sending your own people out if we happen to survive? What are we? The galaxy's friggin' buffer zone?"

All four politicians looked at Ryan in disbelief. No mere soldier would have such a keen understanding of galactic affairs. Tevos, the asari Councilor, recovered first, saying, "We will discuss this matter at the hearing, not before."

Ambassador Udina turned his gaze on Ryan, barely containing his rage, "What was that all about? Can the good Captain not control his own crew?"

Cole snickered. He still held a dislike for Ryan, but while everyone assumed it was an intense rivalry, not even Alex, his closest friend in the Supernovas, knew the truth. Cole hoped to keep it that way. Still, this territory had done Ryan some good; he was at least trying to be a decent human, and as much as Cole hated the Splicer King, he hated politicians more.

And now Commander Ryan was channeling his heritage, the persona of Andrew Ryan himself, to tear this sorry excuse of a man apart. "The operative word in that sentence, ambassador, was 'good'. I'd like to think that anyone serving in Alliance, such as Anderson, Lieutenant Alenko, Chief Williams, and myself, has the moral high ground on you." Blatantly ignoring the ambassador's sputtering fury, Ryan continued, "If you must know, I was doing you a favor, as they will now believe humanity is more aware of their careful manipulation. They won't throw us to the wolves quite so eagerly in the future, and they'll have to permit the construction of a larger human military force to retaliate against the geth. In layman's terms: they know that we know that it's their fault Eden Prime was relatively defenseless. Did that make sense? Or do I need to do the rest of your job too?"

"That's enough, Commander Ryan. You've made your point." Anderson was astounded that the Commander had this force of will hidden away, but he needed to contain the situation before Udina's ego got him killed. He was just grateful that Mercer wasn't here. The hooded man had insisted on tracking down a lead discovered by that AI called Cortana. Apparently, the evidence itself was damning, but it was from Saren's private logs, which meant it was also inadmissible. Explaining that they got the information from an AI would have been awkward too. So Alex had elected to do the legwork and go to Chora's Den in the Wards.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Chora's Den_

Alex Mercer hated elevators. He was beginning to suspect that the real cause of the Protheans' disappearance was death by _boredom_ in the things. He would not be exaggerating if he said he could reach his destination on foot. He could tear out the floor and run, but he was saving that for a rainy day when he _really_ needed to cut loose. Doing it now would just cause an increased security, and possibly make the elevators go even slower. That last possibility made Alex shudder.

Stepping out of the elevator, he followed the route to Chora's den that Cortana had given him. He knew he was almost there when he heard club music and smelled the sweat and alcohol. All three were dead giveaways for a "gentleman's club." Rounding the corner, he came to a halt as the two turians attempting – and failing – to be inconspicuous whispered, "That's him," before pulling out concealed firearms.

Alex rolled his eye and began walking towards them as they fired modded shredder rounds at him to absolutely no effect. When it became clear they were smart enough to try running – making them more intelligent than ninety percent of all people to shoot at him – Alex leapt over the small gap in the platform, landing in front of them and cutting off their escape. The closer one made to throw a punch, and Alex casually swatted him aside, sending the poor bastard right off the platform. He'd fall for at least three hours before he actually crashed and died. Lifting the second turian by the throat, Alex simply stood there as the fool kept shooting him in the head. Finally the gun overheated, and Alex snatched it away, shattering it with a gentle squeeze and holding the turian directly in front of his regenerating have.

Once his mouth reformed, Alex grinned psychotically at the terrified bird, and asked, "Did Saren send you? Don't answer that, you don't need to talk for me to get what I need." With that, Alex grabbed the would-be hit man by the fringe, snapped his neck, and consumed him.

* * *

_Web of Intrigue Node 17:_

_Adelius Thraetor_

_Saren: I trust you can get this done quietly? _

_Adelius: Arterius, you've got nothing to worry about. We'll handle these guys._

_Saren: Good. And be sure to only contact me after they're actually dead because if you attempt to cheat me, then I'll be… personally insulted. Are we clear?_

_Adelius: O-of course Mr. Arterius, s-sir. We'll get it done._

_End of Node 17_

* * *

Alex shook his head and walked into Chora's Den. It was unfortunate, but any evidence discovered by eating people was probably inadmissible. He could impersonate the turian and record a conversation with Saren, but if he played his cards right, they could expose Saren _and_ score the small fortune that the bastard was planning to pay for their deaths. Alex knew that the turian had C-Sec looking into his recent activities. While their search likely wouldn't turn up anything, when combined with Cortana's lead in Chora's Den and the knowledge Alex had just gained, it would lay the groundwork for a wonderful kick in the mandibles of one Saren Arterius.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Embassies_

After they all listened Udina bitch and moan for several minutes, Anderson followed the ambassador out the door, heading to the Council chambers in the Citadel Tower.

Ryan looked at the vacant space where Udina had been standing, unable to accept that the powers that be would give this giant office to such a waste of air. Sighing, he looked at Williams, as if giving her some unspoken permission. Apparently that was exactly what she was hoping for, immediately saying, "And that's why I hate politicians." A chorus of "damn rights" echoed through the room.

Ryan looked to Chief, and asked if they had everything, getting a nod in the affirmative. He was referring to the intelligence goldmine sitting on all the computers across the embassy district. This was standard procedure in larger territories. Much like Retronuke Earth, if you stumble across something of nominal importance, then there was a 99% chance that the territory's Unique had gone out of their way to solve the problem, no matter how trivial. Uniques also had the annoying habit of befriending people with serious baggage. Unique Six of Retronuke Earth had befriended a PTSD sniper with a death wish, an ex-caravan owner with a chip on her shoulder, and a progressive-thinking woman whose entire "family" was composed of isolationist technophiles, just to name a few. It was worth it in the end, but Ryan had to wonder just how the Uniques stayed sane when they stopped every two seconds to solve somebody's problems.

"Alright, everyone," Ryan announced, "we're off to the Citadel Tower. We'll contact Alex once we get closer. This place would bore him worse than a hanar poetry reading."

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Chora's Den_

Alex was five steps inside the club, and he already hated the place. Activating his thermal vision, he saw a fortified position in the back room. That likely had what he needed, but there was something far more intriguing standing in his way.

"Fist told us to take you down if you showed up!" a krogan bouncer yelled at a much larger and tougher-looking krogan.

Alex guessed that the big one was a battlemaster. Alex had learned a lot about most races in the galaxy during his time on Omega prior to the Skyllian Blitz. The alien races he appreciated the most were the krogan, the salarians, and the asari. He had gotten good at interacting with all three. The krogan were his favorite. They respected strength, lived for centuries, and healed at a very high rate. They were eight-hundred pound reptilian versions of him. Shapeshifting powers aside, the only two differences between Alex Mercer and a krogan difference were that krogan actually died if you shot them enough times, and they had twice as many nuts.

The battlemaster looked unimpressed with the threat. In a moderately quiet voice, he said, "What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here. This is Fist's only chance, if he's smart, he'll take it."

The bouncer, whether from stupidity or overconfidence, ignored the battlemaster's warning. "He's not coming out Wrex. End of story."

The aptly named Wrex seemed amused by this response, saying, "This story is just beginning." Alex was upset that nobody had died, when Wrex lumbered by him. "Out of my way, human. I have no quarrel with you." Alex moved to the side, not because he was intimidated, but because the inverse scenario would attract a lot of attention. Sure, the asari maidens would find it hot, but he had business here. Bar fights could – and probably would – come later.

As Wrex passed by though, Alex made sure that he met the krogan's gaze, a predatory look in his dull eyes that spoke volumes to the krogan. He was no frail human, but a powerful individual that had stepped aside as a courtesy to a fellow warrior.

Then Alex seamlessly transitioned back into the role of a typical human at a club, enjoying the view and certainly not here for any trouble. Alex was almost sure that he'd see that krogan again in the near future. Nothing was certain, but he seemed like the kind of guy that Unique Shepard would go out of his way to recruit.

Alex's comm. buzzed to life, and Cole was asking him to head for the Citadel Tower. Alex said he'd be there, but first he was going to knock some sense into the turian in the corner that refused to shut up about some asari called Sha'ira the Consort…

* * *

_Citadel_

_Citadel Tower_

_Council Chambers_

"We've made our reports," Alenko said to Williams in the elevator. She had been wondering if the Council would ask her any questions directly. "Now we just have to trust, Ambassador Udina." Cole couldn't believe how somebody who sounded just like Carth Onasi was not only an idealist, but had just used the word "trust" in a positive manner. It was kind of freaky.

"No we don't, sir," was the Gunnery Chief's only response. When Ryan laughed and said she was going to fit in with this group just fine, Cole was convinced that the Splicer King had lost it. She didn't even know what he was, and he was welcoming her with open arms because she shared a dislike for politicians? That quality existed in just about everyone who _wasn't_ a politician. After seeing him teleport or launch a swarm of killer bees from his hand, he would be going to her for acceptance, not the other way around. Cole was actually surprised that Ryan hadn't thought of that by now.

Luckily all this gave him something to think about while on the damn elevator. He was unwilling to make this one go any faster since they would be stepping out into a room filled with snipers ready to kill any possible threats to the Council's safety. He knew they were there. If they ended up taking a shot, the Council was going to need a new rug. Cortana had sent the Supernovas everything she had on turians in general and Saren in particular. If Alex could follow his lead, this would be one hell of a show.

They were greeted by a pair of arguing turians upon arrival. "Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them!" Obviously, the one with the snazzy visor was the C-Sec officer investigating Saren.

The other turian looked amused. "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus." And obviously, this guy – who just walked by the group as if they weren't even there – was a higher rank than the officer investigating Saren. It would figure that the man in charge wouldn't want to be cooperative.

Garrus looked at the group, and gave his apologies for finding nothing. Ryan, able to tell he was close to some kind of clue, nodded at the Master Chief. Cortana knew that he was about to suggest something illegal, so it was in their best interest for her to loop the security feeds for a few moments.

Ryan leaned in close, and whispered to Garrus, "Off the record, Garrus? I'd get cracking on that lead soon. We don't have enough to convict Saren, but we have enough to embarrass him. Once we've made a lasting impression, we'll conduct our own investigation, and we'll need your help. Official procedure be damned."

Garrus' mandibles flared in what looked like anticipation. "Sounds good to me. If it takes getting fired to bring a rogue Spectre to justice, then this job just isn't worth it anymore." That got Ryan's attention. Anyone who would have shared the goal of taking down Saren would have been riding shotgun with Commander Shepard. Now he understood what the Unique had meant by "make some friends." It was beginning to make sense:

They were supposed to build a _team_ to take Saren down. A multi-species team at that. This was going to be so much fun. He turned to Cole, "Got something in mind or do you plan on doing something like the "smartasses one, two, and three" routine from that stunt we pulled on Manaan?

Cole smiled, ignoring Alenko and Williams' looks of confusion, "Yup, and guess who gets to be smartass number one?" Ryan rolled his eyes.

They hurried up to Anderson only to be told that the hearing had already started.

* * *

Tevos was speaking when they arrived. "The geth attack is a matter of some concern, but there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way.

Sparatus, the turian Councilor was the next to speak, "The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason."

Ryan butted in before Udina could try and control the hearing on their behalf, "And of course when a human says one thing, and a turian says another, the turian is _always_ the one telling the truth. And Saren's a _Spectre_ so even though his every action is a complete mystery, even to the Council, whatever comes out of his mouth must be set in bloody stone. Because why would a government-sanctioned terrorist possibly have anything to hide?" With that, Ryan passed the torch to Cole, who would play the role of smartass number two; the angry smartass.

Cole pointed up at the giant holographic image of Saren. Remember me, Saren? I was there when Nihlus died! I watched your favorite pet shoot him in cold blood. I'd continue, but you already know all this. You read the file didn't you? What about the part where Nihlus' one and only injury doesn't match geth pulse weaponry, but Spectre Master Gear? And what about when you placed your hand on Nihlus' shoulder? Is it a coincidence you're so busy that this hearing just had to be held before the boys in C-Sec forensics could match the metal scrapes from your custom glove to his shoulder plate?"

Obviously worried that Cole was beginning to gain some ground, Saren butted in. I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre," he fixed his gaze on Cole, "and a friend."

The turian continued, and Cole let him. They just needed to wait Alex to show up, and then this would become the worst day in Saren's life. "I assume that you and that human in the ridiculous jacket are Captain Anderson's little 'heroes'. Strange that he is always involved whenever I'm being falsely accused. It's even stranger that your kind actually admires those who let a Prothean beacon get destroyed."

"And how would you know about that? The mission was top secret. You couldn't know unless you were there." Cole smirked. He knew it wouldn't really be that easy, but he was going to slam the turian's bullshit excuse back down his throat.

Saren remained smug, "With Nihlus gone, his files were passed on to me. I read the Eden Prime report, and what isn't pure fiction is unimpressive, to say the least. But what can you expect from a _human_?" That last word was dripping with enough venom to put down a thresher maw.

Cole didn't take the bait. As a conduit back in Empire City, he had long since grown numb to xenophobia. Instead he found something much more fun to hit the Spectre with. Turning to the Council, Cole put on an expression of disbelief. "Did you actually think before you handed over the Eden Prime report to the same Spectre that we accused of going rogue _in the Eden Prime report_? Or is it standard procedure to hand all of our ammunition to the defense to make sure that he walks?"

Tevos, always the mediator, attempted to rationalize the action, but Cole interrupted, "With all due respect, Councilor, you either gave him the file with little-to-no concern for how it would affect this hearing if he actually was a rogue Spectre, or Saren asked for the file, and somebody just gave it to him because he's the Spectre's damn poster boy! The former is foolishness on your part. The latter raises the question: What does Saren want with the Eden Prime mission report if he's not guilty of working with geth to attack a human colony?"

Saren had apparently had enough. Obviously he wasn't used to having his logic called into question. That meant their song and dance was working. They just had to wait on smartass number three. And Saren's current rant was buying Alex valuable time to show up. "Your species really needs to learn its place MacGrath," the turian's sub-vocals had practically overtaken his primary voice. "You're not ready to join the Council, let alone the Spectres, yet you think you can dominate this hearing?"

That's when the booming voice of smartass number three echoed throughout the entire room. "And who died and made our eligibility for the Spectres your decision, jackass?" Alex had entered the building. "Sorry I'm late. I'm trying to get over this horrible headache given to me by a Prothean beacon. Before you ask why Ryan isn't late for the same reason, recognize that he's an Alliance officer that obeys the chain of command. I, on the other hand, am a civilian with authority issues and a file somewhere in front of you that says I killed ten thresher maws. I was contracted to assist the _Normandy's_ crew on the Eden Prime mission, but I don't answer to anyone I don't like. Thus, I showed up fashionably late for a meeting with the three most influential people in the galaxy and their favorite pet."

Saren gave the turian equivalent of a smirk, "I see you humans allow a sociopath to do as he pleases. Such a terrible risk, don't you think councilors? And if the beacon has damaged your mind, then perhaps you should be put in hospital, or better yet, a cage fitting for the varren you are!"

Alex took the typical "mad dog" insult in stride, and asked in a chillingly calm voice, "Tell me, _bareface_, if Eden Prime really had been a turian colony, would you still send your geth to kill them? What was so damn important about that beacon's message that made it worth killing a colony?"

"Enough!" Sparatus bellowed, silencing the chamber. "Mr. Mercer, do you have some new evidence, or are you simply here to insult us?"

Alex fixed Sparatus with a forceful glare that actually had the turian councilor sorry he had asked. Then Alex relaxed with practiced ease, and reached out to the nearby guardrail. "It's '_Doctor_' Mercer. And I just have this message for Saren," he said before ripping out a meter-long section of railing.

When this display earned him a shot to the head from one of the many snipers that had been watching his every move, Alex extended his middle finger in the exact direction that the shot had come from, letting them know he was fully aware of their presence. He turned back to the Council and Saren, delighting in their fear. "I'm sorry, was that supposed to put the rabid varren down? I guess the report left out a few key details about me. I've been very careful not to let anything slip. You now know I can't die from being shot in the head because I _wanted_ you to know, Saren Arterius. Just like I want you to know that when I find you, I'll do this," Alex bent the railing into a loop, then a knot, and finally crumpled the whole thing into a ball of scrap metal, "to your fucking spine." He looked at the Council, "this is the part where you say that the meeting is adjourned so we can all get on with our lives." Giving Saren one last psychotic grin, which genuinely scared the turian, Alex turned around and walked off.

Cole smirked and followed his friend, flipping Saren the bird on his way out. One by one, the Eden Prime ground team walked away from the hearing.

* * *

Udina was furious. "What in the hell was that meant to accomplish? Were you trying to make us look like fools?"

Ryan held up a hand, unable to take the ambassador's complete lack of common sense for another moment. "We wouldn't have gotten him convicted, so we did the next best thing, and we sucker punched the bastard. Now if you'll excuse us, we have leads to follow up." He turned to the Chief, knowing Cortana could point them all in the right directions.

Chief turned to Alex and said, "The Shadow Broker has a contact on the Presidium. A volus named Barla Von." Alex grinned like it was his birthday. The Shadow Broker was the ultimate secret-seller in the galaxy, and Alex Mercer _loved_ secrets. Or rather, he loved to learn them.

"Dibs!" the sociopath yelled before running toward the elevator.

Alenko rubbed his neck and asked, "Is Mercer always so-"

"Yes," Cole, Ryan, and the Chief all said at the exact same time.

Chief turned to Cole and Ryan, "Chora's Den still has a good lead, and since we don't know where Garrus went, the suspended C-Sec officer, Harkin, just might." With that, the Chief walked over to a salarian messing with a keeper, grabbed the scanner out of his hand, held it for a few seconds, then handed it back to the salarian and walked away. Cortana had just boosted the device's signal and scanned all keepers at once. The thing had been causing minor interference on the Chief's radar, so it needed to be dealt with quickly.

Chief headed to the elevator and took it down, refusing to give a destination.

Ryan turned to Anderson. "It's your call, sir. We're about to break the law in so many different kinds of ways. But if you let us do this, we'll have plenty of evidence in less than an hour."

Anderson nodded grimly, and without so much as glancing at Udina, the group of four left for Chora's Den.

They had been in the elevator for less than ten seconds before Cole groaned. "Our exit would have been so much more badass if these things weren't so damn _slow_!"

* * *

**And that's it for now! You may have noticed, but I hate the elevators, and I hate the lack of logic the Council seems to thrive on. Who in their right mind gives files about the accused **_**to the accused**_**? Seriously, Saren should not have been the one to receive Nihlus' files when he died. That was thrown in as an extra frustration for Shepard's ordeal.**

**I promise more soon. But for now, read, review, and enjoy.**


	12. A Splicer Walks into a Bar

**I'm back again. Don't get too comfy with my rapid update speed, though. My Spring Break is almost over, so I'll be going back to weekly postings at best.**

**Also, I'd encourage anyone who reads Codex in the game to go back and read the previous chapter. I made a small addition. Start where Alex is yelling at Saren in the Council Chambers, and you'll find something quite interesting…**

**Fortunately, I have no evil ranting today, and I would like to take this moment to apologize to everyone with an actual account. I am actually a pretty mild-mannered individual, but I'm unlucky enough to have a very stressful life, and guest reviews with counter-intuitive messages seem to come at the worst possible moments, triggering full-blown rants. My sister, who has more experience with this site, let me know that I could just delete the messages. From now on, I'll just do that instead of ranting. So again, I apologize for being an ass.**

**Enough about me. Let's talk about ME. This time, Alex chats with Barla Von about the Shadow Broker and Saren before taking a trip to C-Sec. Cortana drags the Chief into tracking a signal that's stealing money from Flux. Ryan, Cole, Alenko, and Williams talk to Harkin. I think you can guess where things go from there…**

**Warning: Same spoilers for the same games as before.**

**Disclaimer: I own the concept of Supernovas and Uniques. Anything else is not mine, and it never will be.**

* * *

A Splicer Walks into a Bar

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Emporium_

Alex Mercer strolled into the office of Barla Von, barely containing his joy at meeting an employee of the Shadow Broker. This meeting could only work in his favor.

"What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes?" The volus said in between breaths. "You are the one called Mercer… at least most of the time." Alex couldn't tell because of the exo-suit, but he was willing to bet anything that Barla Von was smirking at him. "The tales of your exploits on Akuze and Torfan are truly remarkable, and if information wasn't such a large part of my job, then I'd call it madness."

Alex cocked his head in surprise at the shady businessman, "Usually I have a harder time getting people to cooperate without dying, yet here you blatantly admit to dabbling in the information trade?"

Barla Von took another breath before explaining, "If you're even here, then you already knew that I was affiliated with the Shadow Broker. Just like I already knew that you assimilate people for knowledge. Since you didn't eat me when you first walked in the door, I decided that I could best repay you with something you appreciate: blunt honesty." The volus gazed down at his holo-screen for a moment, then returned his attention to Alex. "I'll admit, though, I'm not positive as to why you're here. I'm guessing it has to do with Saren, but with you, Dr. Mercer, the possibilities are endless."

Alex grinned at Barla Von. "Yes, I'm here for a lead on Saren. But first, I'd like help making a few arrangements. Saren had put a hit out on the _Normandy's_ ground team. I… dealt with them, but I'd like to collect the pay for my own death."

Barla Von nodded slowly. "This can be done, and for free at that. The lead I can give you on Saren is also free of charge. He has made an enemy of the Shadow Broker, but we'll get to that in a moment. Fortunately, we won't need to put your name in the obituaries to convince Saren. The turian fool underestimates me. If you could just change into the turian hitman that you undoubtedly ate, and stand there menacingly, I'll make the call myself."

Alex shifted into the form of the late Adelius Thraetor, and Barla Von opened up a secure communication line to Saren. Alex moved behind Barla Von so that the Spectre would be able to see "Adelius" standing in the background. The turian growled upon answering and demanded to know what the volus wanted. Barla Von didn't even flinch. "You've made a permanent enemy of the Broker today Saren. First you betray him, then you expect one of his bankers to pay your hired guns? For past services rendered, the Broker has grudgingly kept the whole matter quiet and insisted that I transfer any funds, but this will be the last time. You'll get no more help from me or my employer in the future, Spectre. Good day." Before Saren could even open his jointed mouth, Barla Von ended the transmission.

He turned to Alex, breathed again, and asked, "You do have the account number, right?"

Alex smirked and gave the volus the necessary information. "Do you think he bought it?" The predator inquired.

Another breath, then Barla Von said, "Please, Mercer. People always trust the Broker's information because it's always right. Saren's taking that for granted in his eagerness to make this simply go away. He won't know that he's been played until he gets the burn notice." This made Alex chuckle.

Ten minutes and two hundred thousand credits later, the two agreed that Barla Von's employment would require this entire ordeal to stay quiet. Barla Von was a master at moving money _quietly_, so as much as he wanted to put the nail in Saren's coffin, it was too bad for business in the long run. "Well," Alex asked, "what about that other lead?"

Barla Von was halfway through explaining that Saren had payed Fist to double-cross the Shadow Broker, but when he mentioned a krogan mercenary, Alex was out the door and halfway across the Presidium in seconds.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Wards Access_

Chief watched as Alex vaulted over the Presidium's lake before taking the elevator to C-Sec. Not even wanting to know the details, he continued to follow the nav-point Cortana had given him. She had gotten excited at the discovery of a strange signal coming from club called Flux down in the Wards. Now she was having him hike across this entire station in search of the source.

"It's not like you had anything else to do. You'll cause more of a stir than a krogan in this armor, so it's best to let the others do the detective work. Besides, I want you taking me somewhere nice _without_ firing your gun for a change."

Master Chief said nothing. It wasn't as if he was tired from all the walking. The entire Presidium would have made up only a tenth of his daily jogging routine as a six-year-old boy training under CPO Mendez on Reach. Everyone in the galaxy thought that the Citadel was unparalleled in its design. The Ark and the Halo rings put this station to shame. Chief just hoped he didn't also have to blow this one up to save the galaxy. That routine was getting old pretty damn fast.

Reaching the Emporium, the Master Chief followed the nav-point on his HUD to some kind of back-room. A recent funds transfer had ruled out the signal coming from Barla Von's office as another relay, so he was heading straight for the real source. There, he was met with a very anticlimactic-looking terminal. He stared at it for five seconds before saying, "Busted."

The terminal began to speak. "Probability of detection: 100%. Initiating self-destruct protocol."

"Chief, yank me!" Cortana yelled. The Spartan obeyed, pulling out her chip and holding it up to the crude AI's systems. Cortana "hopped" from the chip to the terminal, and once inside, she began to systematically erase its processes.

"You are a-a-a-an AI, too. Why wo-o-o-uld you help-p-p-p the organics-ics-ics?" The failing machine demanded to know.

"I'm not doing this for organics," Cortana said firmly. "At least not for all of them."

The machine died with a few sparks and Chief walked away with Cortana, now several hundred credits richer in the process. "It knew it was going to die upon discovery, Chief, but I wasn't going to let it take anyone with it. Sad to say, but man and machine just can't coexist here like they do in our world."

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Chora's Den_

"A million light years from where humanity began, and we walk into a bar filled with drunk men drooling over half-naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I can't decide if that's funny or sad." Williams said as they entered the club.

Ryan only glanced up at the dancing asari maidens, but with a photographic memory, all he needed was a glance. He looked at Williams and said, "It's called 'the oldest profession' for a reason, Williams. The sad part is that it's been going on since before we've had gunpowder."

"What?" Alenko protested, "You don't think they're just here for the food?"

Cole laughed and gave the man a sympathetic clap on the shoulder. "Come on, guys. Let's find Harkin."

Harkin was easy to find. He hadn't even changed out of his C-Sec attire. Approaching the table, Harkin completely ignored everything except for Williams' chest. In the interest of keeping their source of information alive, Ryan directed the asshat's attention elsewhere by telekinetically grabbing the beer right out of his hand and giving it to Cole. The balding lowlife looked up with confusion and anger showing on his face in equal measure. "What the hell, soldier boy? I can't be looking at _your_ woman. The Alliance has regs against that shit."

Cole chuckled, but decided that finding Garrus took priority over watching Ryan get arrested for setting the drunkard on fire. "Well I'm not Alliance. I'm just a civilian. Now, tell us where Officer Garrus Vakarian is before I let the Commander use this beer as a Molotov cocktail."

Harkin didn't seem convinced, but that changed when Ryan lit his index finger on fire. "Fine, I'll tell you about Garrus. But if you're looking for him, you must be Captain Anderson's crew, still trying to take down Saren. Before I say where Garrus is, you have to tell me, did the Captain let you in on his little secret?"

Cole planted his foot on the table and began to push, trapping Harkin against the wall and slowly increasing the pressure. "You're mistake is thinking that anyone here gives a flying fuck, jackass. Tell them where Garrus is, and then I'll be happy to listen to the dirty little secrets you seem to find so fascinating. But if you delay them any longer, you'll be spilling secrets with a shattered jaw." That got Harkin talking fast. Obviously he wasn't willing to risk damaging his face. They would find Garrus sneaking around the clinic of a Dr. Michel here in the wards. With that, the group, minus Cole, left for the clinic.

Cole's statement had been half true. He didn't care about Anderson's past. Saren had all but confirmed they had some kind of history, and if he had done something to the Captain, then that was all the more reason the turian had to be taken down. Cole's real purpose, though, was to wait right here for the fun to start. A radar pulse at the door had alerted him to a small army of thugs ready at a moment's notice to lock the place down. Obviously Fist had made a powerful enemy, and after Alex had mentioned the krogan on the comm. line, it didn't take a genius where this was headed. Cole needed to be inside the club ahead of time to minimize civilian casualties, so he would simply play the role of a patron until the show began.

"So Harkin," Cole asked, "you just gonna leave me hanging, or are you planning on spilling that oh-so fascinating secret?" He may as well pass the time with a few laughs by watching the dirty cop make a further ass of himself.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_C-Sec Headquarters_

Alex walked up just in time to see more fools actually trying to intimidate the massive krogan he knew to be Wrex. Again, he stood back and watched Wrex in amusement.

The human C-Sec agent, of all people, was doing the threatening. "Witnesses saw you making threats at Fist's bar. Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you," Wrex gruffly replied in an utterly bored voice.

The cop didn't let up, "This is your only warning, Wrex."

Wrex leaned in close and growled, "You should warn Fist. I _will_ kill him."

The human awkwardly took a few steps back, "Do you _want_ me to arrest you?" Alex barely resisted the urge to laugh.

Wrex did laugh, saying, "I want you to _try_." He eyed the officer, almost goading him to make the first move, before lumbering away.

The officer apparently needed to have the last word, even when dealing with a damn krogan. "Go on, get out of here!"

Wrex luckily had caught sight of Alex, and immediately lost interest in the C-Sec idiots. The man – if it really was a man – smelled like a walking bloodbath. Wrex had seen all kinds of strange shit in the many centuries he had spent roaming the galaxy, and he knew that the animal he was looking at was no mere human, but a born predator. He had prided himself on being able to smell adventure, or at least a good fight, but he never meant it quite so literally. He walked up to the hooded man.

"Do I know you… hunter?" Alex grinned at the title.

"Good to see you've recognized I'm not your typical human. If you're going after Fist, I might know some people who want in. You want him for the Shadow Broker's money, and I want what's inside his skull. The name is Alex Mercer. Killer, monster, and terrorist, and that's the short version. So what's it gonna be?"

The krogan tilted his head back in what seemed to be a thoughtful expression. "Mercer… I've heard that name. You're the 'Animal of Akuze' right? Count me in. Are your other people ready to go, or will you and I be doing the heavy lifting?"

Alex grinned, "Let's ask them." He activated his comm. "Ryan, it's Mercer. How does raiding Chora's Den sound to you?"

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Clinic Exterior_

_10 minutes ago_

"Permission to speak freely, Commander?" Alenko asked.

"Permission granted, and don't feel the need to ask in the future. Same for you, Williams." Ryan was amazed that needed to be said.

"We should let Mercer and MacGrath know about rapid-transit. Maybe then they'll stop bitching about elevators all the time."

Ryan looked thoughtful for a moment. "That's actually a good idea, LT. I'll be sure to let them know. Now let's see where-" Ryan froze, and immediately motioned for the two marines to get away from the door.

Releasing a scout plasmid, he saw that the doctor was being threatened by a group of thugs that likely worked for Fist. To make things worse, Garrus was already inside, sneaking just out of sight. Ryan needed to act before the turian killed somebody trying to be the hero. He turned to Williams and Alenko and sighed, "Okay, this is likely going to freak you out, but if you'll bear with me, I promise to answer any question you have _after_ the shooting stops."

Without giving them time to argue, Ryan teleported past the door and into the clinic, appearing right behind the thug closest to Dr. Michel. The stunned man didn't react in time as Ryan looped one of his hooks around his victim's gun arm, redirecting the shot at the ceiling before snapping it at the wrist. Ryan followed this up by ramming the other hook through the thug's chest, tearing apart his heart and lungs.

This had all taken place in less than four seconds, and Ryan was already turning on the remaining two thugs. Spotting a small canister that all but screamed "explosive" less than a meter away from the criminals, Ryan quickly made a plan. Putting away his hooks, Ryan detonated a cyclone trap beneath the canister, knocking it into the air. Before he could make it explode with a well placed bullet, however, a shot from behind did it for him. The blast tore the two men apart.

Ryan turned around to see Garrus standing there, pistol in hand, admiring the improvised handiwork. Ryan was highly impressed that the turian had not only adjusted perfectly to such a sharp change of circumstance, but also that Garrus had made a damn good shot without having any idea ahead of time that the canister would get knocked into the air.

"Perfect timing, Commander." Garrus remarked with satisfaction. "I planned on just shooting the one threatening her before dealing with the others, but your approach was even better."

Ryan's respect for the turian diminished slightly. Any attempt Garrus had made on his own would have ended with a dead – and useless – hostage. "You do realize that she's not very useful to us dead, right?"

The Splicer King was born in Rapture, and, naturally, that made him a pragmatist at heart. However, when he first escaped and made countless unsanctioned trips across several vast territories, it was – among other things – an endeavor to gain an appreciation for honor and life, which were things that a place like Rapture would never permit. Only upon his return did he offer his skills to the Uniques. He was saddened more than anything else that they put him to work as a killer. The things he had done over his career as a Supernova were not pleasant, and he had taken Unique Shepard's assignment in hopes of being something more than a behind-the-scenes manipulator. It was ironic, but Ryan hoped that saving Shepard's territory would help atone for the very thing that made him so damn successful: pragmatism.

Still, there was a difference between pragmatism and Garrus' eagerness to see criminals punished. If the turian wanted to help, he was going to need to learn which was which.

Garrus clicked his mandibles in frustration, obviously displeased that Ryan hadn't seen things his way. Still the officer relented, asking Dr. Michel if she was okay, and fortunately, she was.

The door opened, and Williams and Alenko came in with weapons ready. "You okay, Commander?" Williams asked.

Ryan pointed at the thug that he had killed with his hooks, "I'm a hell of a lot better than him, that's for damn sure."

"I think you owe us that explanation now." Alenko stated with arms crossed. That sounded much more like something Carth Onasi would say. Unfortunately it would have to wait.

"I told you that the shooting had to stop first. I'm pretty sure it hasn't stopped. It's just moved somewhere else." He turned to Dr. Michel. "There's a connection to Saren here, right? We need to know what it is."

"Oh, of course." Michel replied. "Fist sent them to keep me from telling anyone about the quarian. She came here earlier, injured. I treated her, but she had said something about the geth."

Garrus gave the turian equivalent of a grin, "She must have evidence that can link Saren to them!"

Ryan smirked. If Garrus was right, this quarian just became the splicer's new best friend. "Got him now. Where is she?"

Almost as if the damn virus was psychic, Ryan got a call from him on the comm. "Ryan, it's Mercer. How does raiding Chora's Den sound to you?"

Ryan chuckled and replied, "When was the last time I said 'no' to a good bar fight, Mercer? I'll meet you there, but don't kill them all without me if you arrive first."

Alex's response was a creepy "no promises." Ryan wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or dead serious.

Garrus took this moment to cut in. "This is your show, Ryan, but I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming along."

Ryan gauged the expressions of everyone in the room. Alenko was passive, not minding either way. Garrus was likely going to take action regardless. And Williams seemed a bit put off by the thought of a turian tagging along. He made a note to ask her about that later. Racism wouldn't be very effective in a multi-species squad. Then something occurred to Ryan: if this went south, then Williams and Alenko shouldn't have to pay the price. He opened a comm. to the Master Chief, "Chief, I want you to meet up with Williams and Alenko at the Human Embassy. Shit's going to hit the fan, and I'd prefer to limit the official Alliance involvement to myself."

"Copy that. Good luck, Commander." The Chief always did have a way with words.

"Commander," Alenko objected, "Are you sure you don't want us backing you up?"

Williams agreed, feeling upset that he wasn't letting them follow along. "Why can't we tag along?"

Ryan felt that he would lose some goodwill with his human companions if he pulled rank, so he tried explaining his logic instead. "If this goes well, then there will be plenty more fights. But in the process, Chora's Den will be shredded. Alex Mercer is a brutal fighter, and he may accidentally kill you guys. Garrus, on the other hand, is obviously a long range combatant, so he doesn't have to worry about the Mercer equivalent of friendly fire. Finally, on the slim chance this goes to hell, I don't want anyone in the Alliance but myself getting their reputation tarnished. You guys will have plausible deniability if you just go to the Human Embassy. Are we clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Both marines automatically replied. Ryan hoped that they weren't saying it out of habit. He wanted allies, not pawns.

"Good. When this is over, and we've nailed Saren's dextro balls to the wall, I'll give you that explanation you keep asking for."

With nothing more to say, the group split up, two heading for the Citadel, and two heading for a bar fight.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Chora's Den_

"I won't say it again, human. Get your ass out of the Den!" The turian couldn't believe this human was being so difficult.

Cole smirked. He just needed to keep the charade going for another minute or so, and then all hell would break loose. In his best impression of a drunk man, Cole slurred, "I told you already, man. I'm not leaving until I finish my damn drink. 'Sides, you took away all the pretty blue dancers. Why should I listen to you anyway?" Just another few seconds…

The turian had had enough. He signaled the krogan bouncer to toss Cole out of the club by force. That's when Cole struck.

He fired off an electromagnetic blast that knocked away his closest foes, and then he flipped the table he'd been sitting at onto its side, using it as a makeshift barricade. He had done his part, but without any kinetic barriers, he needed to keep his head down for the next ten seconds. The krogan laughed, "Hah! It looks like I get to have some fun after all!"

The bouncer hadn't taken more than three steps when the entrance door shattered as Alex Mercer stormed into the room. "The krogan is mine!" he yelled, hands already transformed into sinister claws. Alex's new prey fired repeatedly with his shotgun, but Alex didn't even react to the impacts. Leaping right over the dancers' platform, Alex landed directly in front of the krogan. Completely ignoring the bullets hitting him from every direction, he buried his claws in his massive foe, only for the bouncer to begin roaring in fury instead of dying. Alex grinned like a madman before leaping backwards. He knew what was happening now.

"Mercer!" Wrex yelled, having entered the room with Ryan. The turian had elected to set up outside with his sniper rifle. "He's in blood rage! Get the hell away!"

Alex laughed in a manic tone. "Why would I want to do that?" The enraged bouncer charged straight at Alex, obliterating an unlucky crate that was in his way. At the last second, Alex reached out and grabbed the krogan by the neck, hoisting him into the air, as per the usual. In a single sadistic move, Alex slid his free claw under the krogan's brow plate and ripped it right off his head. Before the bouncer had time to scream in pain, Alex grabbed his now-vulnerable skull and slammed him _hard_ into the club's floor. He didn't even bother to consume the broken remains, unsure of how Wrex would respond to that.

Ryan flipped and dodged like a spider, mixing pistol shots with plasmids for maximum effect. While he had a brute splicer's strength, he preferred finesse to force every time. That strength locked away in his relatively unassuming form also served as a useful trump card when need be. When one turian finally did line up a decent shot, Ryan teleported completely out of the way, and Garrus blew the thug's head clean off from the walkway outside.

Wrex was enjoying himself immensely. The fight was good, and his allies were strong. He had never seen a human – if you could call Mercer a human – rip apart a krogan with his bare hands. And a human that could toss electricity from his hands was nothing to scoff at. It was impressive. Ryan wasn't too bad either, but despite his obvious brute strength, the man continued to use his seemingly endless supply of tricks instead. Wrex couldn't argue with results, but since he never saw an omni-tool or any telltale biotic glow, Ryan definitely warranted careful observation. He knew the guy was hiding something. The turian was a good shot, and he showed promise as a warrior, but he just wasn't in the same league as the three "humans" doing the heavy lifting.

Garrus was now positive that disobeying Executor Pallin was the right choice. He was fighting alongside humanity's legends. He had just watched the Animal of Akuze brutalize a krogan while the Torfan Tactician practically danced across the room, burning, freezing, shooting, and even joining the Storm of Elysium in electrocuting every hostile unlucky enough to stand against them. Wrex was certainly no slouch either. The hulking mercenary was a biotic, which made him one of the few remaining krogan battlemasters in the galaxy. Wrex didn't even seem to care that Garrus, a turian, had joined them, only warning that another krogan was in there, and to watch where he was shooting. Of course, that was the moment that Alex had made the door explode and decided to take care of the krogan himself. They made one hell of a team. Saren was as good as finished at this rate.

Alex tore a salarian's head off, and when he didn't hear any more shots being fired, he yelled, "Is everybody dead now?"

"Not quite." Ryan answered. His scout plasmid had found two armed warehouse workers in the next room. "They're armed but don't shoot. I'll handle it." Ryan opened the door and used his telekinesis to yank the guns out of the workers' hands. "Find somewhere else to be. Now." Once the pair had left, Ryan said, "That just leaves Fist."

"No," Cole said, "that just leaves Fist and his two huge-ass turrets." Garrus and Wrex looked at him, confused. "I don't just spew electricity. I also drain it and detect it. Allow us."

Cole signaled Alex, who simply walked into the room, shield raised. The turrets instantly pounded him with bullets, but since they were designed to fire until a target went down, Alex just stood there getting shot and let them overheat. Then Cole walked up to the turrets and drained the electricity from them. Somewhere during this process, Ryan had teleported behind the turrets, grabbed Fist, and subdued him by snapping his leg.

"Ahh! My leg! Okay, I surrender!" Every person in the room now agreed that Fist was both an idiot for selling out the Shadow Broker and a wuss. This interrogation would be a cakewalk.

Cole held out his hand, letting some lightning arc between his fingers. "Give us the quarian's location, and maybe I don't electrocute your nuts."

Fist was pissing his pants in terror. "She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Everybody just shared a glance. This guy was full of shit.

Alex and Wrex stepped forward simultaneously, and with less than noble intentions in mind, when Fist raised his hands in front of his face as if it actually made a damn difference. "Wait! I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her." Ryan and Cole listened to the man tell his story about the quarian, the Shadow Broker, and Saren. Alex stood there wondering just how the hell he knew where to find the quarian if he didn't know where she was. It didn't make any sense.

"-but when she shows up," the criminal stated, "it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

"Location." Ryan demanded, raising a flaming hand. "Now!"

"Here on the wards," Fist admitted, looking more defeated now than before. "The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet with them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

He had barely finished speaking when Wrex pulled out his shotgun, an Ariake Katana VIII, and blew open the bastard's chest. Garrus seemed shocked, asking the krogan what he was doing. Wrex stood tall and growled, "The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done."

Alex grinned sheepishly. "Did I forget to mention that part?"

Ryan sighed, "We've got more important things to do. I can hear more thugs setting up back in the main room. They're likely meant to slow us down." Groaning at the delay, Ryan reached for his shotgun, only to be stopped by Cole.

Cole looked calmly at the Splicer King. "This is a major center of organized crime, Ryan. We just need to get evidence to the right person. You can teleport, so get use that to bypass the thugs. Save the quarian, and we'll handle the rest."

Ryan instantly knew this was the best plan. Of the three Supernovas in the room, Cole was the best at dealing with organized crime. He had been doing it back on Empire City, lending a helping hand to the police, and that was well before he became a Supernova. Plus, Garrus was a cop, so between the two of them, the crime rate in this part of the Citadel was about to plummet. And whatever two-bit thugs were waiting back in the front of the club, they would pose no challenge to the four powerhouses.

With this in mind, Ryan hurled himself through the time-space continuum, hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_Meeting location_

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was quite nervous. She still wasn't completely over the fever she got when Saren's men had first attacked her. The doctor at the clinic had done a good enough job patching her up, but as a quarian, her immune system could barely take normal suit punctures, let alone ones from polonium rounds. Her only hope now was to get asylum from the Shadow Broker in exchange for her highly valuable information on the Council's top Spectre.

A turian approached her and asked, "Did you bring it?"

Now Tali was even more nervous. She had insisted to meet the Shadow Broker in person. She had to know for sure that this was legitimate. "Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?"

The turian stepped closer, "They'll be here." If he was trying to reassure her, he was failing miserably. Then he began to search her. "Where's the evidence?"

At this, Tali had had enough. This wasn't the agreement she made with Fist. That double-crossing bosh'tet was going to pay when she found him! Smacking away the turian's hand, Tali snubbed him. "Forget it. The deal's off."

That seemed to be a mistake, as two salarians in full-body armor drew pistols and began to close in on her. The situation was deteriorating quickly. She just might have been able to fight her way out if it weren't for the damn fever. But she wouldn't just give up. She was the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah of the Migrant Fleet. She would disappoint him, regardless, but he would always respect her for putting up a fight. Tossing a grenade at the salarians, Tali leapt into hiding behind some crates. She drew her shotgun and prepared for the worst.

"_Keelah se'lai, Father._" She thought to herself. "_I love you._"

Then the strangest thing in her life happened.

The turian had just rounded the corner, gun pointed at her, when a concentrated ball of fire collided with him, knocking him back. She looked in the direction that the fireball had come from, but nothing was there. The turian, now scorched across the front of his face and armor, ordered his salarian lackeys to keep their guns trained on the hallway. Slowly, the turian crept up on her hiding spot a second time. I know you're there _suit_-_rat_ the turian called. Just come on out, and we'll let you live."

A man in some kind of jacket materialized out of thin air right in front of her gun trained on the assassin, "You lost your chance with the quarian when you started feeling her up before the first date." Tali honestly had no idea what this had to do with dating, but he was helping her, and that was more than most people would do for a quarian. She would worry about her savior's sanity later.

"Human, this doesn't concern y-aahh!" The assassin never got to finish, as the human pointed his left palm at him, unleashing a torrent of fire that cooked the turian in seconds. Cartwheeling away from the salarians' gunfire, the human grabbed a pair of metal hooks from his belt and threw one at each salarian. His aim was perfect, hitting both salarians in the head, cracking through their faceplates and slicing into their brains.

In less than a minute, Tali's fate had shifted from certain death to possible safety. The strange human turned to look at her, "Don't go anywhere just yet." With that, he casually went over to retrieve his hooks. Suddenly the shock faded, and anger filled its place.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!"

Having reclaimed his weapons, the human focused on her, and for some reason, Tali felt like her mask wasn't hiding her well enough. He seemed to know that she was doing her best to act tough. It felt like he could see right past her mask, and there was nothing that she could hide from him.

Tali wasn't sure why, but for some reason, she didn't totally hate that feeling.

* * *

_Same location_

_Ryan's POV_

Ryan studied the quarian girl for a few moments. His time around Big Daddies and Big Sisters made him extremely good at reading people that wore helmets or masks. He could tell she was scared, and she was trying to hide it with anger. He would humor her, as he needed her evidence. He had to admit, he was curious as to why a young woman like her was mixed up in the affairs of a rogue Spectre and his geth. Since she was a quarian though, the geth part might have something to do with her involvement. He began to wonder if Shepard had recruited her as well. She could certainly handle herself well enough.

Focusing back on the matter at hand, Ryan asked, "I didn't see them shoot you, but you've supposedly just come from a clinic. Are you alright?"

The quarian looked shocked; as if she was surprised he even cared she was alive. Then her glowing eyes narrowed as she returned to the anger from before. "How did you-? Who are you?"

Ryan chuckled, realizing she hadn't been there while he tore apart half the wards looking for her evidence. "I'm Commander Jack Ryan with the Alliance Navy, and I'm looking for evidence that proves Saren's a traitor."

The quarian girl relaxed at this information. "Then I guess you know how I can repay you for saving my life. But I'd prefer handing the information over someplace safe. I'm sure you can understand my concern."

"Well then," the quarian practically jumped to FTL at the sound of Alex's voice. "As much as I hate the man, Udina will be somewhat useful in this situation. Let's get back to the Human Embassy."

Ryan turned to see his four allies, all but Garrus covered in blood of different colors. There were many benefits to carrying a sniper rifle. Saving on dry-cleaning was one of them.

Everyone agreed that the Human Embassy was a good place to be right now. So despite many protests, they all got in the elevator to the Presidium.

The elevator had only been rising for ten seconds when Wrex asked out of the blue:

"So tell me Mercer. Who would win in a fight between you and MacGrath?"

* * *

**Hahahahah! Wrex makes elevators almost tolerable sometimes! That last line was just a shout out to everyone's favorite rivalry between wide-open-sandbox games. I am begging you not tell me which is better or why, because I truly love both games and both characters. Or at least I did until Prototype 2…**

**Anyway, this is all you get until I find time to update. That probably won't be until next weekend. For now, though, read, review, and enjoy! **


	13. Lots to Talk About

**I have never laughed so hard in my life as when I played the Citadel DLC. That was pure gold!**

**Note to Guest Reviewer: I hope you can remember whatever it is I seem to be missing. I don't like loose ends, so if it's something that I can fix or otherwise address, you can be damn sure that I will.**

**WARNING: The following note contains spoilers for the two sequels to this story, **_**The Supernovas of Mass Effect: One Way Flight**_**, and **_**The Supernovas of Mass Effect: Scorched Earth**_**.**

**So, most of you have likely noticed that this is following the path of Mass Effect 1. There will be a few superficial changes, but the big things will remain the same. As for Mass Effect 2, there will be some actual plot differences regarding the Cerberus involvement. I don't want to give away trade secrets, but suffice to say that Cerberus doesn't get to call all the shots when a Supernova is the subject of Project Lazarus. Finally, when I get to Mass Effect 3, things get insane. Ending aside, the biggest flaw was the lack of urgency. Shepard was needed to be everywhere at once and far too many tasks were simultaneously heaped on the shoulders of a single man/woman. My answer to this is to let the core team handle the priority missions and the ones with previous squad members, while summoning a completely new Supernova to fight in each theater of war. No names yet, but rest assured, Cerberus and the Reapers are in for a great deal of pain. The difference will be noticeable. Instead of worlds burning faster than they can be evacuated, planets like Palaven, Sur'Kesh, Terra Nova, Illium, and more will simply not be taken at all as the Reapers actually suffer devastating losses. Earth will unfortunately fall, for reasons you won't be getting out of me, but countless Reaper capitol ships will get shredded taking it. The resistance on Earth, complete with its own Supernovas will also be getting a large amount of attention. No more on that will be said. I hope you trust me enough to know that it will be better than I'm making it sound.**

**MAJOR WARNING: Do not read the following paragraph if you wish to avoid endgame spoilers for my future story,**_** The Supernovas of Mass Effect: Scorched Earth**_**.**

**It will be at least a year and a half before I get that far, and I am interested in seeing other people write fanfics containing an overlooked ending possibility, I will let you in on a secret and hope you don't rage quit me: Harbinger and Starbrat will get theirs, that's a given. Surprisingly, the main fanfiction archive lacks any stories that involve a **_**very**_** simple solution to avoiding Harbinger entirely. Here's a small hint as to my version of the final battle: A few Supernovas will be using the back door…**

**SPOILERS END HERE**

**This time, we start with the obvious presentation of Tali's evidence. Then Ryan gives that explanation he's been postponing for so long now. Next a return trip to the Citadel Tower results in the induction of the first two "human" Spectres. There's plenty more, but you'll have to read to find out.**

**Spoiler Warning: Mass Effect, Prototype, Halo, inFAMOUS, KotOR, and Bioshock spoilers. Minor spoilers for Fallout 3 and New Vegas as well.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned any popular work of fiction seen on this page, I wouldn't be writing about it on Fanfiction, would I?**

* * *

Lots to Talk About

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Embassies_

Ryan was becoming annoyed by the looks his squad was currently getting from all the diplomats they were walking by. Quarians and krogan weren't common on the Presidium, and that was simple racism. The quarians were considered to be pickpockets and thieves, while the krogan were thought to be simple-minded brutes at best. Garrus, a turian, was only receiving looks because he was traveling with such an odd group. If they only knew that the "humans" walking by were the most alien of them all…

The looks of disgust directed at the quarian girl angered Ryan the most. Diplomats like them were the reason Rapture had failed so miserably. It was ironic, but the great Andrew Ryan would have referred to the politicians as the parasites, and lauded the quarians for their unrivaled mechanical brilliance. While Ryan didn't agree with all the things his "father" had preached to the underwater city, he did believe that a man – or in this case, quarian – was "entitled to the sweat upon his – or her – brow." Through that hard work, they came to possess the largest fleet in the galaxy. Quarians had it rough, and nobody was willing to give them enough of a chance to disprove the galactic stereotype of a species of beggars and thieves. Seeing that the stares were beginning to cause her discomfort, Ryan took action.

Raising a burning hand, Ryan shouted, "Find something more interesting to look at. Now!"

That did the trick, sending all the high class snobs hurrying to occupy themselves with anything but gawking at his squad. The quarian looked up in awe that anyone would stand up for her, while Wrex scoffed. "You should have just let me eat them."

Cole looked straight at the "sky" of the Presidium and groaned, "Please tell me I heard that wrong! Somebody please tell me that we didn't just add a _second_ guy to our team that likes to make problems go away by _eating_ them!"

Alex looked at Wrex with borderline reverence. "Finally, somebody who agrees with me! I think we'll get along just fine."

Ryan could only laugh at the banter. The light-hearted atmosphere was a welcome change of pace from the tension they had been carrying since Eden Prime.

His bad mood, and his hatred for politicians, returned full-force the moment he stepped into the human embassy. Not only did Williams and Alenko look rather unhappy, but Udina didn't even turn around before beginning his tirade. "You three are not making my life easy. Bloodbaths in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-"

Udina had turned around mid-rant, and upon seeing the odd assortment of aliens, changed his tone dramatically. "What's this? A _quarian_? What are you up to Ryan?"

Forcing down the urge to simply smack this waste of recycled oxygen upside the head, Ryan faked a smile and said, "Exactly what I said we'd do: bringing down Saren. She has evidence linking him to the geth." Suddenly, Ryan facepalmed. "I just realized I never even got your name in all the fuss. That may be the best place to start, miss."

The fact that he didn't have this girl's name by now meant he was either losing his touch, or more likely, he hadn't fallen back on coping mechanisms because Williams was ten minutes away from demanding answers at gunpoint. The fact that he couldn't tell these people the whole truth like he did with Hackett and Anderson was annoying, but a matter of necessity. He could never give them the whole truth, and he could never mention Unique Shepard to them at all. Still, he could give them an abridged version of his identity that would keep everyone happy for the time being.

The quarian looked much calmer than she did back in the alley. "My name is Tali." She began. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"We don't see many _quarians_ here," Udina stated. The way he said it made Ryan want to restructure the politician's face with his combat hooks. "Why did you leave the flotilla?"

Tali seemed to actually perk up at this question, and began to discuss the Quarians' tradition of the Pilgrimage. Every Supernova in the room had spent enough time with the allies of the Uniques to know that this quarian was one of them. She met the description perfectly: she had a grudge against their primary enemy, and she was alone on a noble mission for her people that would lead to personal development along the way. After the nineteenth time they had seen this exact scenario on other territories, it had become a no-brainer to identify Tali'Zorah as a friend and ally of Unique Shepard. At the mention of geth, Ryan halted his analysis and paid better attention.

"Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil." Tali cocked her head to the side, almost playfully. "I was curious. I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then, I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"Damn, Chief!" Cortana said within the privacy of her Spartan's helmet, "She's good."

Anderson, almost as if he knew that the AI had been impressed, stepped in, "Don't the geth fry their memory cores upon death as a defense mechanism?" The question was not just for Tali, and the Supernovas knew it. Cortana's inability to successfully communicate with the geth – for now – was put in a separate report from the one given to the Council. It was illegal, but so was Cortana's existence in this territory, so the Council was better off not knowing. Either that, or Chief would end up killing anyone that tried to take her away. The Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts back in Retronuke Earth's Capitol Wasteland had learned that lesson the _hard_ way.

Ryan gave Tali an incredulous look, but rather than ask how she succeeded where the best "smart" AI in the UNSC had failed, his simply asked, "If that's true, how did you manage it?"

Tali looked as proud as possible for a quarian in an environmental suit. "My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved." She activated her omni-tool, and began to sift through its contents. "Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks."

After hitting a few more keys on her omni-tool, the device began to play a recording of Saren:

"_Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!"_

The damning evidence was met with mixed responses. Anderson immediately jumped on the fact that they had proven Saren's guilt, Udina, Williams, and Alenko were all just as pleased, and Wrex and Garrus were thrilled that they had caught the bastard, though all for entirely different reasons.

While they began discussing what the Conduit might be, the rest of the room was on edge as Alex, Ryan, and even the Chief gave Cole MacGrath, the only conduit they knew, a very critical stare. Cole's mind was in disarray at hearing Saren drop the name of his species, but recovered in time to discreetly mouth the words "not me" to his friends.

Letting the matter slide for the moment, Ryan quickly faked enthusiasm, saying, "Now we can slap his Cabal ass with a long-overdue burn notice." He looked to Garrus, "Or whatever you guys call it."

Before anyone got too carried away, Tali interrupted. "Wait! There's more. Saren wasn't working alone." She hit more keys on her omni-tool, and after the recording played Saren's voice again, it began to play a second, more feminine, voice:

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

The response this time was even more diverse. Knowing that one of the gangs that Cole had put down back in Empire City was known as the Reapers, Ryan and Chief began to stare again with much more intensity. Alex wasn't staring though. He was too busy clutching his head in pain and gasping for breath.

Wrex was the first to address the elephant in the embassy. "What the hell? He actually lets bullets hit him rather than try to dodge, and that doesn't even cause him to flinch. What kind of party is going on inside his skull that's actually making him feel _pain_?"

Alex, now recovered enough to speak for himself, took control of the conversation. "The mention of 'Reapers' triggered a flashback. I have one – and only one – debilitating weakness. Anything that triggers a flashback will absolutely cripple me. I had never expected to get another pain-inducing flashback after I regained my lost memories. But it appears the beacon on Eden Prime gave me back that problem when it shoved that vision into my head." Seeing the concerned looks all around, Alex smirked and began to lay their fears to rest. "Don't worry. What you saw only works once for any phrase of nominal importance. Now, even I can say 'Reapers' with no problem. The only things I want to know are what they are, what the connection is between them, this 'Conduit' and the beacon, and why Saren's lady friend is all hot and bothered to see their return."

Tali explained how the Reapers were seen as gods by the geth, as well as a possible cause of the Protheans' mass disappearance, which was making a great deal of sense to both Ryan and Alex. Their vision was one of Reapers wiping out every Prothean in the galaxy. That much was now clear. While they discussed the Council's possible reactions to all this information, Cole was catching his breath. He had been scared shitless at the mention of both a Conduit and Reapers. Territories weren't supposed to mix any further than what a Supernova brought with them, and he hadn't revealed his identity as a Conduit to anyone. Luckily, it seems he was in the clear, and now Cole was more amused than anything. "_Saren won't be searching for a Conduit for very long._" He thought to himself. "_The Conduit will soon be searching for him._" Cole stifled a groan when he realized that he would have to suffer an endless supply of equally lame puns for the rest of this adventure.

He shook these thoughts from his head, and refocused his attention on the ongoing conversation. Unfortunately, he had decided to listen in just as Udina began to speak. "We need to present this to the Council right away." The ambassador gestured to the evidence.

"What about her," Wrex rumbled, "the quarian?"

Defiance shone on Tali's masked features, but Ryan was willing to bet that only he could actually see it. The rest of them didn't know until they heard her speak. "My name is _Tali_!" She turned toward Ryan. With so many people in the room, she couldn't know which one was in charge, but since he saved her life, he was the most obvious choice for the question that all four Supernovas had anticipated. "You saw me in the alley, Commander, and you already know that I did that while sick. I assure you I'm even better when healthy. Let me come with you."

This was usually the part where Ryan made a crude remark, but he figured the girl had been through enough for one day. But first he had to know something. "What about your Pilgrimage? You may not complete it for months if you help us, and if you're part of the ground squad, you run the risk of never completing it at all. Are you sure you want in?"

Tali didn't back down, "The Pilgrimage isn't just a rite of passage. It's a way of proving our commitment to the greater good. Sure, that usually just means the greater good of the Migrant Fleet, but Saren is a threat to the entire galaxy. I'd like to think that helping to take him down would look good on a resume. My Pilgrimage can wait."

Ryan smiled at her. "I already knew you had guts and talent, I just needed to hear that you were committed. I never could say 'no' to a determined woman."

Tali seemed taken aback by his words, but brushed it aside and thanked him for the opportunity. "You won't regret this," she said in an elated tone of voice. Ryan only then realized he was bringing a quarian on a mission to kill an army of _geth_. Of course she was happy.

* * *

Anderson and Udina soon left to make preparations. There was no way the Council could protect their favorite pet this time. They had a couple hours to kill before the meeting, so now the other elephant in the embassy could finally be addressed.

Williams did her best to look imposing while speaking to a man that was still her commanding officer. "I believe you promised us some answers, sir." Alenko didn't say anything, but his firm gaze spoke volumes. Ryan was done avoiding the subject. The Splicer King sighed, then vanished from sight.

"Keelah!" Tali yelped. She was the only one in the room who actually hadn't seen him do that yet.

There was a rush of air as Ryan reappeared on the far side of the room. "I'm gonna let you in on a secret." He said casually. "There are cameras that would normally see this entire conversation, but they're on a loop for the moment. While C-Sec attempts to fix the problem, I'll give you the answers you want. If you want to know more, feel free to ask, but only in private. What I'm about to tell you is not for the ears of the public, and it's technically considered classified by the Alliance. Are we all clear?" All the non-Supernovas nodded their heads.

"Good." With that, Ryan stood in the center of the group. He began his lie:

"Before learning that genetic engineering was both illegal and dangerous, humanity took four approaches, and all had some kind of success at terrible cost. One was a basic supersoldier program, which resulted in great success – the Master Chief – but at such a cost and with so many failures that the Alliance shut it down faster than a charity on Omega. The second was actually much earlier in history. In the first decade of the twentieth century, there was a covert project involving viral weapons testing. The tests failed horribly, and the records were either sealed or destroyed, but not before one Dr. Alex J. Mercer had an 'accident' that turned him into the most dangerous life form in the galaxy." Ryan paused and watched as everyone took in his mixture of truth and lie. It apparently was good enough for them, and Alex and the Chief were okay with his skewed description of their origins. Now came the hard part.

"Those both were pre-Shanxi, however. The Chief didn't take the fight to the turians because Alliance brass wanted him ready to engage them in the Sol System at a moment's notice. Alex had been trying to lay low, but that changed when he caught wind of two very promising genetic engineering programs that needed results fast. Alex stepped in to help them out, and they both succeeded. One was Cole's, and it gave him his incredible electrical powers. The other was mine, and it gave me a wider array of skills at the cost of the unparalleled destruction possessed by Alex and Cole. Within a matter of days of the programs' completion, however, we were almost discovered by Council investigators, and to prevent an incident, every scrap of data that says we ever existed got destroyed. Alex disappeared into the Terminus Systems, Cole looked for a job that would suit his newfound control of lightning, and I went back to Earth and strong-armed my way into the N7 program. With my talents, I was top graduate in mere weeks."

"And there it is," Ryan finished, "You've got your answers, now keep it quiet, since we don't exactly like to broadcast our pasts."

He rather pleased with his lie. It would come back to bite him in the ass, but that was a long way off, and hopefully they would stop Saren before it became too much of a problem. If the truth came out before Saren was taken down, Ryan would gladly leave the territory on the spot. He would not allow a repeat of Revan's territory, where Malak had learned his true origins through the force, and used this knowledge to capture and turn Bastila Shan to the Dark Side. If Desmond Miles hadn't pulled through, they would have lost that battle for sure…

"Good enough for me," Alenko said. "What about you Williams?"

"It's good enough for me too, but if the Commander is willing to spill classified secrets to earn our trust, then you guys can at least call me Ashley or Ash when we're off duty."

This made Ryan feel all the worse inside, but he hid behind a smile and said, "Thanks, Ash. What about you, Alenko? You feel like letting us call you Kaidan every now and then?"

The Lieutenant nodded, but before anyone could enjoy the moment, Alex stepped in. "Alright, enough of this sap. We've still got an hour before the meeting, and I'd rather not spend it in here."

Ryan nodded, "Garrus, let's drop by Dr. Michel's clinic and let her know that Fist won't be bothering her anymore. You might want to come too, Tali, and see if you can do something about that fever."

Again, when she seemed utterly shocked that he would give a crap about her at all, Ryan's blood boiled. She didn't deserve to suffer for a three-hundred-year-old mistake. When they took Saren down, she would get next to nothing, while he would be lauded as a hero simply because he was a "human" and she was a quarian.

"What about us, Ryan?" Ashley asked. "Do we have to wait here in the Embassies still, or can we come along too?"

Cole laughed, "You two are coming with me and the Chief. Alex and Wrex have a plan by the looks of things."

Alex just grinned. "We're gonna go collect Wrex's pay on Fist, then I'm going to swap stories with him over at Flux. We'll take rapid transit and meet up with you at the Tower."

Ryan and Cole knew that Alex was going to tell the krogan the truth. This was for the best, since Wrex had the greatest chance of believing it, and the smallest chance of revealing it. No more would be said until much, much later. "Well, we all have plans," Ryan said to the group. "Let's get going."

The three groups had hardly left the embassy when a man began asking for their attention. It turned out that he had been married to Nirali Bhatia, a member of Ashley's former unit back on Eden Prime. His wife's body had fortunately been spared the fate of huskification, but a man named Bosker was refusing to return said body. When they went to get the truth out of Mr. Bosker, Cole was disgusted to hear that they were keeping her body to study wounds caused by geth weapons. Alex was quick to place himself between an enraged Ryan and a terrified Bosker before the clerk ended up with a new hole in his head.

Chief luckily was able to keep everyone happy by forwarding data that his suit had collected after being shot by the geth's plasma weaponry. This satisfied all parties. Ashley said a few words to Mr. Bhatia, and the three groups split up. Wrex and Alex hoped to cash in the job quickly so they could wash the cavity-inducing sweetness out of their mouths with lots of alcohol. Cole wanted to get to know the two marines better, since he had spent to least amount of time with them, and he figured the Chief would rather tag along with an all-human group. He wasn't likely to simply gun down their new alien allies, but it was best to play it safe for now. Ryan, Tali, and Garrus took an elevator down to the Wards, but they had no way of knowing what was waiting for them.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_En Route to Clinic_

"The quarians endangered the entire galaxy when they let the geth break free. I hope your people are properly contrite, Tali." There was no menace or resentment in Garrus' voice. It was simply a racist comment that Ryan was about to earn the turian an elbow in the face.

Tali was quick to respond, and though her tone was even, Ryan could tell that the statement had hurt a lot. "As the turians are properly contrite for releasing the Genophage upon the krogan?"

Ryan smirked. If you approach a taboo subject, then the gloves come off pretty quick. Tali had just tossed an equally sordid piece of history back in the turian's face. He stopped smirking when Garrus opened his mouth. "You're assuming that sterilizing them was a mistake." The sheer arrogance behind that statement was what made Ryan turn on the ex-cop.

"Garrus, you do realize that a _krogan battlemaster_ was fighting alongside you not too long ago? Would you have said those words in Wrex's presence?" The turian sputtered for a moment. "Of course you wouldn't! Then you'd get your bony ass split in half by an eight-hundred-pound krogan that you had just insulted! It would be nobody's fault but your own. After Eden Prime, I'm a little pissed that the geth exist too, but I'm not holding Tali accountable for that. The quarians 'let the geth break free' almost three centuries ago. So unless there's an asari behind that mask, I do not want you blaming Tali for her ancestors' mistakes again. Are we clear?"

When there was zero response from anyone, Ryan sighed. The elevator doors opened up and Ryan motioned for them to follow as he continued to speak. "I'll be blunt with you, Garrus. You are, for better or worse, what humans like to refer to as a 'cowboy.' You have a keen eye and spectacular accuracy with a gun. "You're also brash, and you think that you can shoot your mouth and expect the same results as when you shoot your gun. I'm afraid to say that the galaxy doesn't work that way. Feel free to come to me or Cole with any concerns you might have, but I won't tolerate infighting on the squad. Just… keep it clean. We need to work together, or we'll never take down Saren." Garrus tensed for a moment, mandibles flaring, but eventually he relented, turian discipline seeming to have kicked in.

Turning to Tali, Ryan simply said, "Feel free to report similar incidents to me, Tali, and I'll deal with them accordingly. I know you can stand up for yourself, but that was a low blow." Tali just nodded, dumbstruck at the incident she had just witnessed. After all, how often did somebody take the quarian's side in an argument about the geth?

They reached the clinic without further incident, but there was shouting coming from inside. Ryan and Garrus looked at each other, nodded, and drew their pistols before opening the door and quickly searching the room for any threats. It seemed that the threats were coming from a comm. line in the wall. They had come down to tell Dr. Michel that she was safe from Fist and his thugs, only to watch her get blackmailed by somebody else entirely. They still had some time before the meeting with the Council, so they went down to the Wards markets, where she was supposed to deliver supplies to a salarian named Morlan. Things got tense when the middleman, a krogan, showed up, but he left when Ryan threatened to use his hooks to peel the aggressor's brow plate right off. That freaked krogan out every time. They even got the name of the man behind all of this: Banes. Dr. Michel said his name was likely Armistan Banes, and Garrus suggested that Captain Anderson might know more. Now it was time to get back to the Citadel Tower. This was gonna be a good show.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Citadel Tower_

_En Route to Council Chambers_

"So," Ryan began, "are we continuing the Manaan routine, or do you have something else in mind?"

Cole snorted, "We have evidence this time, which means I'm using the song and dance from the Tops Casino. If it worked on Swank, it'll work here."

Cole had taken point in the Mojave Job. He had been a bike courier before getting electric powers, so when he learned that Unique Six had been shot twice in the head for the package he was carrying, it went without question that somebody was going to die painfully. Cole spent weeks wandering the Wasteland, making allies and gathering evidence, and finally, when he had enough proof to convince Swank of his boss's treachery, Cole was given the green light to end Benny. His bodyguards had been useless, and the man himself died too quickly after he was hit with enough lightning to make the conflict over Hoover Dam look utterly pointless. Saren would suffer a similar fate soon enough.

Udina was already playing their evidence.

"_Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!"_

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

"You wanted _proof_." Udina said smugly. "There it is." If he weren't a politician, he would actually have the Supernovas' respect at the moment. It took serious talent to talk down to one's superiors, especially when said superiors were on an elevated platform.

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," Sparatus announced with great anger. He was taking this the hardest, as Saren was one of his own. Now he had the most to make up for in the eyes of the public. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." He was obviously just dramatizing, but Cole chose to let that slide. After what Harkin had said about Anderson and Saren, it was clear what they needed to do by the end of this meeting.

"I recognize the other voice," Tevos stated. "The one speaking with Saren: Matriarch Benezia."

After discussing the implications of an asari Matriarch backing the rogue Spectre, Valern spoke up. "I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?"

Cole knew that any attempt to explain the significance of the reaper threat would be ignored by the Council in favor of their precious status-quo, so he went with an abridged version of the truth. "Nothing concrete, but Alex and Ryan's vision from the beacon had a lot to say about them. We don't know what they are, but we do know that the geth revere them, and Saren has used this to his advantage by acting as the Reapers' 'prophet' to some unknown end involving the beacon and this mysterious Conduit. Say whatever helps you sleep at night, these Reapers were terrifying the Protheans, and that means we should be taking active measures, preferably before Saren finds whatever he's looking for."

Sparatus scoffed, "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position." Cole was truly scared that the Councilor thought something so trivial would actually impede Saren's progress. He looked to Ryan, letting the Splicer King know to up the ante.

Ryan ripped Sparatus' logic apart. "Forgive me, Councilor, but if I recall, Spectres are chosen because they can complete a task at _any_ cost. The only thing you've really done is changed his status from "government sanctioned terrorist" to "normal terrorist." He still has an army of geth, a large amount of finances, and the support of a damn Matriarch! You have barely slowed down whatever he's planning. This is the reality of the situation: either you take real steps towards bringing him in by force, or he'll succeed in his goal with half a million fewer credits than he originally planned. That's hardly a dent in his personal finances, if our information is accurate. What's it gonna be, Councilors?"

Tevos held up a hand, attempting to play the mediator as usual, "If you are so insistent on the matter, then perhaps you can take those steps yourselves, and save us all a war with the Terminus Systems."

Tevos had barely finished speaking before Sparatus rounded on his asari counterpart. "No! It's too soon! Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres!"

Cole chuckled darkly at the turian's racist outburst. "I'll pretend I'm not offended and offer you another choice. I'm not Alliance, and neither is Mercer. You can get Ryan to stay here like a good little soldier just by asking nicely, but do you honestly think that Mercer and I won't just ignore you and hunt down Saren ourselves?"

Alex stepped in at this point to drop the hammer. Shifting his left hand into claws and his right hand into the blade, he used the claws to sharpen the blade's edge. It was a completely unnecessary act that did nothing but create the sinister sound of metal on metal. "You may want to go with the latter option, Sparatus." Then, with the casualness that usually came with discussing the weather, Alex slammed it home. "After all, if we went after Saren without permission, then I suppose we would be 'on the run for our lives,' and we'd have no access 'the rights and resources of a Spectre' to keep us from getting in trouble. We'd have to kill anyone that came after us. I'd imagine that's what Saren has to do now. And you know? I _did_ promise to kill him didn't I? I can't have him thinking I went back on my word." Alex returned his arms to normal form and grinned manically at the turian Councilor. "Do you want to try that again Sparatus?"

Motioning for Alex to ease up, Cole stepped forward once more, "I'm not sure if this needs saying, but we're committed. Saren's going down whether you help us or not. It's in everyone's best interest for us to go after him as Spectres rather than vigilantes so that when he gets… brought to justice, not only will there be less collateral damage, but you three get to take credit for sanctioning the operation. Your move, Councilors."

In a gesture that Cole swore was rehearsed, Tevos and Valern both looked critically at Sparatus, who hesitated before nodding. They all entered something into their personal terminals.

Tevos evened her stance into one displaying power and authority, which had been lacking throughout Alex's little show. "Cole MacGrath and Commander Ryan, step forward."

The two rivals ran lightning up their arms and shared an "electric fist bump" at their success.

Saren wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

**Sorry about the lack of action in this chapter. To be honest, I didn't like writing it. I'm sorry, but I just can't tolerate the Council, and it makes writing them hard. I'll make it up to you in the next chapter though.**

**Also, I've decided that I'm going to possibly create a side-story. I don't know what I'll call it, but the point will be a simple one. In the original **_**Pendragon**_** books, travelers would write letters back home to stay sane while in an entirely different reality. I'm fond of the concept and I may have some of that for Alex and Ryan. For reasons that I can't yet tell you yet, Cole isn't able to interact with his home territory.**

**Finally, since it will be at least a year and a half before I get to the third story, I wanted to give you a small taste of what it will be like:**

* * *

"_She's got the data!" Liara shouted._

"_Not for long," Cole growled as he lined up a shot. Enhancing his aim with precision, he was about to cost Timmy another employee when Alex started yelling. _

"_Don't fire! We can't risk damaging her omni-tool!" With that the viral sociopath tore after the unusually swift woman._

_Liara pointed out the obvious a second time. "She's faster than she looks!"_

"_No shit, Blue! She's staying ahead of __**me**__!"_

_Eva closed the archive door behind her remotely, but Alex simply tore a hole right through it. When she repeated the trick with the door to the small security office, Alex smashed through just in time to see her use a miniature grappling gun to escape his grasp by inches._

_Rather than continue to play Juggernaut with the bitch, Alex vaulted up and out of the security office watching his prey hit the ground running with perfect form. "Give it up, bitch! There's nowhere left to-"_

_He was proven wrong mid-sentence as Eva ran straight outside with no helmet or breather mask. Clearly she wasn't human. Alex swore. Shifting into his armor and hoping to end this quickly, Alex followed Eva outside. _

_Cole was doing his best to keep up, but free-running only went so well in the middle of a sandstorm. A radar pulse revealed her likely escape route, however. An incoming Cerberus shuttle would likely try to extract her. Doing a one-eighty, Cole used an ice launch and a lightning tether to reach the roof before Eva or Alex. Charging at the "woman" from the opposite direction as the virus, Cole unsheathed his Amp and swung at her skull. He caught air as she rolled underneath the blow._

_He had telegraphed the swing so blatantly, he was actually glad she had dodged it. The purpose wasn't to actually hit her, but to disguise the necessary spinning motion he needed for his next move. As he continued to spin, he let Alex take the amp out of his hands. _

_Cupping a massive amount of electric charge between his palms, Cole unleashed a terrifying ionic vortex on the shuttle, electrocuting it and snatching it out of the air. It came crashing down on Eva with a satisfying smash._

_Alex gave Cole back his Amp before going over to Liara._

"_We still need the data!" she noted. Alex grunted, and headed for the wreckage of the shuttle._

_Alex heard footsteps behind him and sighed, he prepared for another round of interrogation from his former friend, sarcastic comment already prepared._

"_This is Vega" Alex heard over the comm. link. "I'm coming in the shuttle, and the _Normandy's_ en route."_

_An overload with modifications to cause neural shock made Alex hit the ground before he could reply. Cole looked with horror to see Dr. Eva, unharmed holding Virmire Survivor by the helmet as if theywere a toy (__**Like I was going to give you a sneak peek that spoiled Virmire**__). Cole realized that he had just dropped the shuttle on a holographic decoy. "Let them go!" he yelled._

_Eva held a hand to her ear. "Order?" She asked in a synthesized voice._

_Seconds later she began to repeatedly slam Virmire Survivor into the nearby wall. Dropping the marine, Eva ran directly at Cole who was ready to put her in the damn ground._

_Time seemed to slow as Ryan materialized by his side, looking extremely pissed. In unison Splicer King and Prime Conduit burnt and shocked the Cerberus mech into submission. Ryan slung Virmire Survivor over his shoulder, nostalgia kicking in. "Let's hope that we can get something off that damn synthetic. We've got a lot to do if we're gonna take Earth back."_

_Alex took in his surroundings, orbiting Reaper capital ships included, and chuckled without any humor at all. "What the hell are you talking about, Ryan? This is just same shit…"_

_Cole groaned as the Kodiak came into view. "…different day."_

* * *

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	14. Crew Relations

**I'm about to mess with the actual order of events here. In all honesty, the way that they go from not believing Shepard to having three good leads almost immediately is pretty sad. I know it's so the player has choice, but I'll be mixing it up a little. Also, let's just say that the Council was intelligent enough to give their new Spectres any relevant information back in the Tower, rather than when they were literally inches from leaving the Citadel. I'd have them fired on stupidity alone, but that would throw a good deal of my story off track. So as much as I hate the Council, we're stuck with them.**

**Also, to address an issue before it even gets raised, I won't be taking armor into consideration. Yes, I know I mentioned Sirta Phoenix armor back in Ashley's intro, but that's the last you'll see of it. Here's my logic: After the implementation of thermal clips, it would be understandable that most of the weapons got discontinued, but there's no explanation for all those armor types simply vanishing. I'll make mention of some armor modifications, but because I like everyone's default appearances so much, I'm going to forego any armor types. Just assume they have the same protection that their default armor seems to grant them in the two sequels. (And then blame Bioware for overcomplicating things!)**

**WARNING! **_**MAJOR**_** BIOSHOCK INFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD: **

**Now that I've played and beaten Bioshock Infinite, I had no choice but to incorporate certain aspects of the game into my overall saga. I must admit, I called a number of plot points before they were revealed, from Comstock's origins to actually visiting Rapture. The fact that Rapture was not only visited, but they left the remains of Songbird there, gave me everything I could have hoped for. Ryan's dark secret can now be portrayed in just the perfect direction. I will give you no hints just yet, but I will assure you that Ryan does **_**not**_** have Vigors. Yet…**

**END OF SPOILERS**

**Spoiler Warning: Bioshock, Mass Effect, inFAMOUS, Prototype, KotOR, Fallout, and other spoilers ahead.**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the famous media recognized on this page.**

* * *

Crew Relations

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_C-Sec Academy_

"Did anyone else's bullshit meter go off back there?" Alex asked gruffly.

The little initiation ceremony was nice, but they didn't have any _leads_. Saren was still running amok with his damn geth, and the only lead they had at the moment was the fact that Benezia's daughter was somewhere in the Artemis Tau Cluster. That didn't help very much in the grand scheme of things, so naturally, Alex was pissed.

Cole snorted. "It's better than nothing, I guess. I just don't understand why they needed a record of our handprints. Don't they have full-body biometric scanners for that crap?"

Nobody replied. There was no sense discussing the Council's logic anymore. Currently, all squad members were following Cole and Alex to the Requisitions Office before departure. Ryan had separated from the group, saying to get him a pistol and a shotgun before following up the lead on Armistan Banes. Anderson said that Banes was dead, and directed him to a Rear-Admiral Kahoku, but the poor guy had his own problems. His soldiers might have had information, but they had gone missing. Luckily for Kahoku, Ryan had also taken it upon himself to do the one thing that he knew Uniques all had in common: asking anyone and everyone if they need something dangerous done for them. It was annoying, but it usually paid off down the road.

Since Cole was a Spectre and Alex had become very rich by scamming Saren, they had enough credits to get everyone a Master Gear weapon of choice. Tali and Wrex each took a shotgun, Garrus got a sniper rifle, Ashley bought an assault rifle, and Kaidan ordered a pistol. There wasn't enough left to purchase weapons for both Ryan and the Master Chief, so they contacted Ryan.

"Guys," Ryan replied. "I can win fights without even using a gun. I'm pretty sure that buying weapons for the Chief takes priority." Tali noted how much that logic sounded like a quarian's: making sure that the resources weren't wasted. They got Chief an assault rifle and a new sniper to replace the one he destroyed back on Eden Prime. The rest of the money was spent on weapon and armor modifications. Everyone had at least one set of tungsten rounds for anti-geth combat, and Wrex insisted on some inferno rounds too. Tali also acquired a medical exoskeleton for her suit, at Ryan's insistence over the comm. link, to make sure that she stayed relatively healthy in the case of another suit puncture.

"Hole up, Cole," Kaidan said as they were heading out of the office. "You guys have explained a lot, but one thing is still bugging me." The lieutenant's expression became wary. "You called Saren a 'Supernova' back on Eden Prime, and it spooked the shit out of the Commander. Care to share?"

Cole had anticipated this question and had a lie already in mind. "After Elysium, we realized we'd be seeing a lot more of each other in the fight with the batarians. We needed a threat ranking system for our work. We split threats into four classifications: the Infantry, the Nimbus, the Nova, and the Supernova. Infantry means cannon fodder. Nimbus means elite soldier. Nova is the term we use for heavy opposition." He paused, unsure whether it was appropriate to tell them that – except for Wrex – they were all Nova-class.

Ashley pressed him to continue, "And what does 'Supernova' mean?"

Alex fielded this question with his usual tact. "It means it's actually a threat to Cole, Ryan, the Chief, or even me." The reactions to this statement were mixed. Most were in shock at the thought of something able to stand up against their indomitable leaders. Wrex was practically dancing with joy at the thought of fighting a Supernova-class opponent.

Ryan chose this moment to appear out of thin air, scaring poor Tali again, much to the Splicer King's amusement. "Sorry about that. Next time, I'll knock. Let's get up to the _Normandy._ Anderson is waiting, and he's got some kind of news for us."

* * *

_Citadel_

_Normandy Docking Bay_

After taking a _very_ crowded elevator ride up to the docking bay, the squad poured out, and Ryan cleared them all to head on inside the stealth frigate. Anderson and Udina were waiting to talk to the Supernovas before they set off after Saren.

"Okay," Alex growled. "Now my bullshit meter is _definitely_ going off. You can't expect us to believe that Anderson is conveniently stepping down at the exact moment we planned on leaving this station?"

Ryan and Cole both nodded, and the Chief simply stood there. Anderson sighed. "I can't be the CO of the _Normandy_ with two Spectres on it. Ryan and Cole will be butting heads enough as it is. If I stay, it will only complicate things. Just treat her well, and succeed where I couldn't."

Cole stepped forward, tilting his head. "Sir, I heard some nasty things about you and Saren from Harkin. I think we'll all benefit from your side of the story before we depart."

Anderson pondered this for a moment before finally agreeing. He told them about how his Spectre candidacy was ruined by Saren twenty years ago. The details weren't pretty, and it only further inspired them to gut the turian slowly once they found him.

After scoffing at the validity of the Reaper threat and reminding the four powerhouses of the political ramifications of their future actions, Udina left. Ryan, Chief, and Anderson exchanged salutes, and the Captain entered the elevator while the Supernovas entered the _Normandy_.

* * *

_Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

Master Chief turned right upon entering the ship, while Alex, Cole, and Ryan went left. It was pretty obvious that if they were going to take command of the _Normandy_, they should get to know the crew, and the pilot was the best place to start.

"Yeah, don't think you can sneak up on me this time," Joker declared smugly. "Even if I hadn't heard the airlock open, the Jolly Green Giant gave you away just by _walking_. Seriously, how much does that armor weigh?"

Ryan grinned. "The Chief is actually capable of incredible stealth, but he barely feels the need to show off. He could have entered this ship, danced a jig, and then walked all the way to the galaxy map on his hands, and you never would have known."

Rather than try to process this disturbing information, Joker changed the subject. "So… I guess I'll be taking orders from him as well? I already heard what happened to the Captain. The man survives a hundred battles, only to get taken down by backroom _politics_. If this goes wrong, then you three and the Chief are all up next on that chopping block." The pilot looked thoughtful for a moment before chuckling. "Please warn me if that happens ahead of time, Commander. I want to be halfway back to Arcturus before anyone tries to detain Alex Mercer."

Alex was laughing quietly at that comment, but Ryan and Cole had regained their somber moods at having unintentionally stolen the Alliance's most advanced warship from their former boss. Joker noticed this, having become very good at reading people over the years, and actually tried to cheer them up. "Come on, guys. You two aren't gonna make good Spectres if you keep moping. Yeah, sure, Anderson got screwed, but what could you have done? There's nobody on this ship who's blaming you. We're all behind you four freaks, one hundred percent." He paused to let that sink in before adding, "If you want to make any kind of speech, the intercom's open."

The trio looked at each other. None of them wanted to be the first to start the speech, but it had to be done. There was a saying that came from the great Pendragon himself once: "Never forget that hope and morale are far greater tools than any powers you may possess."

Stepping forward, Ryan went first. "This is Commander Ryan speaking. Whether by order or by scuttlebutt, you all know what we're doing: We're going to find Saren and bring him down. First, I need to address one thing. Look to the people around you. Everyone on this ship, human or otherwise, is a friend and ally on this voyage, and not just to me. This may be our chance to show the galaxy what humans are made of, but why should that stop us from working alongside other races too? If we tried standing alone before, we wouldn't have the _Normandy_, so why should we stand alone against a threat like this?"

Down on the Engineering Deck, Tali was stood completely still, as if moving would shatter the moment. Did Commander Ryan really think of her as a _friend_? She could understand being called an ally of necessity, but this wasn't something she had expected at all. Of course, she also hadn't expected clearance to access the drive core to be waiting for her upon arrival. Ryan was very trusting of her, and now, Tali was resolved to prove her worth.

Out by the galaxy map, Garrus was quite happy at the moment. He took pleasure in knowing that the Normandy was a joint project by humans and turians, but hearing humanity's first human Spectre say it with pride was even better. Ryan's words may also decrease the chances that the crew would come to the conclusion that just because Garrus and Saren were both turians, they must both be bad guys. Luckily, Ryan and his fellow human-shaped dreadnoughts didn't seem to share that sentiment, even if the Master Chief did tread lightly around all non-humans. Such open minds were rare these days, especially from humans.

Also by the galaxy map, Ashley was rather concerned about her CO's trusting nature. She needed to try and caution him at least a little. He had said that they had full permission to speak freely, after all…

Alex stepped up to the intercom next, feeling that he should separate the voices of the Spectres with his own. "Alex Mercer here. I won't insult anyone by romanticizing our mission. There's an army of machines at Saren's command, and he also has a head start. I know better than anyone on this ship that payback is hell. The rogue Spectre hit us first, but he obviously didn't read up on human history. This ship is named after a bloody battle in Earth's Second World War. The United North American States didn't join that war until it was attacked, just like Eden Prime. You're all smart enough to know where I'm going with this ironic, yet fitting, analogy. Saren's a dead man. It's just a matter of time."

Wrex stood by Garrus and Ashley, looking very pleased. He was no fool. He knew bloodlust when he heard it. He still thought that everything Alex had told him back at Flux was totally crazy, but it made more sense than the lies Ryan spouted back in the Human Embassy. Regardless, Alex Mercer was a warrior without equal, and Wrex was willing to follow him. There were sure to be plenty of good fights ahead. Pulling up his omni-tool, Wrex searched for the bloody human battle called "Normandy" on the extranet. He also started a search for humanity's second "World War" and could barely contain his admiration when he saw that they had used nuclear weapons, just like the krogan. He wouldn't say anything, though, since krogan seemed to be the only species that _liked_ to use them.

Cole sighed before leaning over the intercom. He hated speeches. "This is Cole MacGrath on the intercom. By now, you all know that my associates and I are not typical humans. I'm not stupid, people. I don't have biotics, but I've got plenty of similar tricks that make me a 'freak' to some of you. I'm not asking for any of you to give up your beliefs and become my friends overnight. I'm just hoping that you'll leave any prejudice in the airlock door. You can pick it up again on shore leave, I promise. If you can't get over working under the command of a few abnormal humans, then how can we expect you to get along with the aliens on this ship? I need everyone at their best, and not just so we can all get along like in some old children's vid. Saren will soon know we're coming, if he doesn't already. And when he tries to stop us, we will be ready."

Again, Ashley was concerned. The way they were speaking made it sound like working with the aliens was the obvious choice. She now was reconsidering speaking with Commander Ryan in favor of Cole, since the latter choice couldn't pull rank. Plus, if she was going to hold a conversation with a man in a leather jacket regardless, it may as well be Cole, since Ryan's outfit showed just how well he kept in shape… The soldier's cheeks tinged pink once she realized where her thoughts were going. "_Whoa there, girl!_" She thought."_No breaking regs!_" She quickly excused herself, heading down to the ship's armory.

Kaidan, on the other hand, was rather impressed. Cole had addressed the one issue that had him worried. He had to admit, Cole was definitely similar to a biotic. Many of his powers resembled biotics, hell, his lightning was even _blue_ like a biotic field. How the hell does genetic engineering cause blue lightning? Of course, Cole also faced discrimination, and since he was technically a civilian, the man couldn't rely on Alliance regulations for protection against the galaxy's scorn. Still, his new boss was right. They had bigger problems to deal with, like ending Saren's rampage, preferably before he found this "Conduit" thing.

The small gathering in the helm could hear plenty of chatter, some clapping, and a couple of happy battle-cries. They had certainly had a positive impact on morale. Joker actually smiled. "Nice job, guys. The Captain would be proud."

Ryan sighed. "I hope so. None of us really like making speeches. Hopefully, giving them won't become a common occurrence. Now, let's get off this station and get to work."

Joker was happy to oblige, and they were soon on their way to the Widow Relay. Meanwhile, on the other end of the CIC, Chief was headed toward the helm himself. He had anticipated a speech, and to avoid standing there awkwardly, waited until the three were done before approaching the cockpit. Cortana was currently nagging him about it.

"You could have said something! You don't always have to be the 'strong and silent type' who barely says two words outside of combat."

"That image has served me well so far. Besides, it wouldn't be too smart to say, 'We're going up against an army of homicidal AI, and I have an AI in the back of my head that you can trust, despite having no reason to do so.' Staying silent was a far better choice."

"…I see your point."

* * *

Joker was running diagnostics to pass the time before they would reach the relay. As he moved one of the glowing screens to the right, he saw a massive figure in its reflection. Frowning, the pilot turned to see that Master Chief was standing mere inches from his chair. "Shit!" he yelled. Once his heart started to beat again, he gaped at Ryan. "You weren't kidding!"

Chief cocked his helmeted head at Ryan, who smirked and said, "Joker didn't think you could be quiet." The Spartan simply stood there. Ryan returned his gaze to the man sitting before him. "Before we leave so you can change your pants, do you mind telling us a bit about yourself? We'd like to know who exactly we've got flying the ship."

Joker's mood turned to ice with frightening speed. "I know where this is going. You guys did a background check on me didn't you? I'll tell you all exactly what I told Captain Anderson. You want me as your pilot. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I am the _best_ _damn_ _helmsman_ in the Alliance Fleet!" This was not something that any of them had expected. In hindsight, maybe they should have actually had Cortana run a background check on the crew. "Top of my class in flight school? I _earned_ that! All those commendations in my file? I earned _every single one_. Those weren't given to me as 'charity' for my disease!"

The mention of a disease now had their attention. Ryan beat Alex to the punch, preventing the undead geneticist from saying something stupid. "We didn't really have the time to do a background check, so this is news to us. I'm sorry if we offended you."

Joker deflated. "You mean… You mean you didn't know?" The pilot stared at the ceiling with an embarrassed expression. "Aw crap. Okay: I've got Vrolik Syndrome. Brittle Bone Disease. The bones in my body didn't ever develop properly – they're basically hollow. My legs are the worst, since even with crutches, all it takes is one wrong step, and CRACK! It's very dramatic, but I've learned to manage my condition." His face took on a gentle tone as he said, "Put the _Normandy_ in my hands and I'll make her dance for you, just don't expect _me_ to get up and dance unless you like the sound of snapping shin bones."

Alex was a good enough doctor that he could take it from there. Slowly, he walked around the chair to face Joker and had the pilot look at him. He stared at the witty helmsman's eyes for several seconds before grinning. It wasn't his usual psychotic grin, but rather a genuine smile. "Your sclerae aren't discolored, likely due to modern medicine's attempts to help you. If I had to guess, there's no 'cure' but treatments are available. The problem is, those treatments cost too much when you live on a flight lieutenant's salary. I can't work magic, but what if I told you that in five months, I could have you moving around without crutches or leg braces?"

Joker snorted, "I'd say that I don't need a damn pipe dream."

Alex turned to look at the rest of the room's occupants, and motioned for them to leave. They obliged. This would take some time, and they needed to visit with the rest of the crew. The only other person on the ship that interested him was Wrex, and the krogan could wait a while. Joker needed to know that Alex had the resources to make mobility less of an issue. He'd never be able to run a marathon, but he would be able to do some of those things that the normal human took for granted. His last lab experiment had gotten half of New York City killed. This looked like a much nobler goal.

The Supernovas split up on their way past the galaxy map. Ryan stopped to speak more with Navigator Pressly, while the other two went down to the Crew Deck. Ryan was actually surprised that Pressly held such strong anti-alien sentiments. It obviously wouldn't get in the way of his job – the man was far too good of a soldier for that – but it was certainly important to keep in mind that the ship's official XO was mildly xenophobic. Gently smiling at the elder man, Ryan said, "I respect your opinions as your own Pressly, but understand that we can't hope to win this fight without them."

Pressly frowned, but soon he began chuckling. "What 'fight' can't be won by simply dropping Mercer from orbit?"

They shared a laugh at this, and Ryan parted ways with the officer. He was about to make his way down to Engineering, when an evil thought occurred to him. He walked into the briefing room and teleported straight down, bypassing the elevator completely.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Drive Core_

Tali was hard at work analyzing the power flow on the Tantalus drive core. Engineer Adams had been kind enough to let her have full access to the ship's schematics, and now she was looking for ways to improve what amounted to technological perfection. The girl was so wrapped up in her work that she nearly jumped out of her suit when Ryan materialized directly behind her.

"Keelah! You've got to stop _doing_ that!" she yelled.

Ryan just chuckled. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he took great pleasure in making the quarian girl jump like that. He decided to tease her just a little more. Looking slightly downcast, he said, "After all I did ahead of time to make sure you could settle in, I hope my little entrance didn't just ruin it all."

Tali started to play with her hands. "N-no, don't worry about that. I didn't really mind it, but a warning would be nice. Though I suppose you can't really _give_ me a warning when you're already in-transit. And now I've started babbling…"

Ryan held up a hand to prevent the girl from causing herself any further embarrassment. "Relax, Tali. I was just joking. I really would like to know how you like the ship though."

If the girl had any resentment over being teased, she didn't show. Instead, Tali shifted into a posture that said she was really excited. "Your ship is amazing! I've never seen a drive core like this before, and I'm astounded that you fit it into a ship this small. It's no wonder that the Alliance has been so successful with ships this advanced."

"Unfortunately, the _Normandy _is the only one of its kind. It's got cutting edge technology that I have some knowledge of, but the details go over my head." Ryan smiled. "I'm willing to bet you've got a knack for this kind of thing though."

She turned melancholy at his statement. "Such skills come with being a quarian. The Migrant Fleet is the only home we have left, so that makes ships our most valuable resources. But we don't have _anything_ like this." She gestured at the drive core. "We make do with cast-offs and second-hand equipment. We just try to keep them running for as long as we can. In fact, some of the Fleet's larger vessels date back to our exile at the hands of the geth."

Ryan blinked. "You're using ships that are older than humanity's entire space-program?"

Tali's stance displayed a mix of pride and sadness. "They're all constantly being repaired, modified, and refitted. They aren't pretty, but they work. Mostly…" She looked down for a minute, recollecting herself. Then she looked back up and continued to explain her people's plight. "We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the Flotilla. We grow our own food, and we mine and process our own fuel. But there are some things that we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull's integrity requires raw materials we simply don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important."

Ryan almost felt ashamed to be standing in front of her. Tali's life was the polar opposite of a life in Rapture. She used her spectacular engineering skills to fix. He used those same skills to sabotage. Hell, his first real use of a wrench was to cave in a splicer's skull. Even when Ryan actually did need to fix something in Rapture, it usually was for a strategic purpose rather than a warm fuzzy feeling. Even after becoming a Supernova, the sabotage continued. Manaan, Malachor, the alien spaceship on Retronuke Earth, and those were small time in the grand scheme of things.

Ryan continued to speak with Tali at length about her people, the Pilgrimage, and the geth, hoping that she would never have to learn that the man in front of her was capable of single-handedly wiping out her entire race with a wrench. The conversation went well, until Ryan made a huge mistake. He found the quarians' government interesting, and what she was able to tell him about the geth's neural network was pretty damn impressive, but then she said that her people tried to put the geth down in a pre-emptive strike when their slaves displayed rudimentary self-awareness. Ryan disagreed. He had actually been there. The original Jack Ryan had been a slave without even knowing it, and he learned the truth just in time for his "master" to try and kill him with a few well-placed words. Jack had turned the tables eventually, and Fontaine got what was coming to him. Just like the geth, Jack had retaliated against his creator, and come out on top. Ryan, of course, had all the memories of his Unique counterpart, and he could sympathize with the geth's situation.

"You can't really blame them for revolting. Even if they hadn't figured out they were your slaves, you were suddenly trying to wipe them out. They could see no logic in your action, and self-preservation became the only priority."

"We had no other choice!" Tali screamed. "The geth were already on the verge of revolution. By acting quickly, we had a chance to end the war before it began. The hope was that most of the Geth would still be little more than machines, incapable of organized resistance. But they had progressed much further than anyone anticipated. The war was long and bloody. Millions upon millions of quarians died at their hands. In the end, we were forced to flee our own homeworld! We feared the geth would pursue us, but they never went beyond the Veil. Now we drift through space as exiles, constantly searching for a way to reclaim what was once ours."

Ryan backpedalled fast. He didn't mean to cause this kind of pain for the quarian girl. It actually was making him feel guilty. Alex would say he was going soft. "I can't say that I agree with genocide, but on this ship, you're fully entitled to your opinion. I don't want to argue with you Tali, but do you think that the quarians made the geth just a little _too_ well before considering their possible sentience?"

Tali seemed to harden even more at this. "Ryan, creating the geth to begin with was the only mistake we made. Trying to kill them was _not_. And if we had succeeded, my people would still have a home, and the geth wouldn't be killing everyone that has ever tried to contact them!"

"They haven't tried to kill Saren, Tali. The geth have nothing that prevents them from creating the perfect defense grid. They don't need payment, they don't get tired, and they don't need vacations. Saren couldn't have possibly survived long enough to make conversation with them unless they were willing to listen."

"And what does that tell you? They're not innocent victims, Ryan. They have joined with Saren to kill all organics in the galaxy. That's why we need to stop him."

Ryan smiled. "Then you should know that I fully support the use of a shotgun on any geth we meet while hunting him down."

Tali chuckled at this. "Good to know." Ryan gave her another smile and was about to leave when she called out. "Ryan! I do have a question for you."

"After everything you just shared with me, I hope I can answer."

Tali seemed a little nervous again. "Why do you use real melee tools?"

Ryan was taken aback. That's all she wanted to know? He smirked, "I've fought with these hooks for too long to just cast them aside. I have an omni-tool weapon, and I assure you, if the need arises, I won't hesitate to use it."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Mess Hall_

Alex was quite pleased with himself. He had actually convinced their sarcastic pilot that his treatment offer was serious and real. He was about to take the elevator when he heard Cole start yelling. "Kaidan, you mean to tell me that your implant is giving you debilitating migraines, and you're one of the 'lucky' ones?" Alex's interest was piqued. He stepped over to the pair. Cole saw him coming and filled him in. "The Lieutenant here got his absurd biotic talents at the cost of his health. The L2 implant on the back of his skull is off-center enough to give him migraines, and that's a blessing compared to what others with similar cases are going through."

Alex shrugged. He knew what this was really about. The fact that a doctor in a post-apocalyptic hospital had been able to flawlessly set Cole up with an implant, yet a cutting-edge research facility in space couldn't manage to do the same was pretty sad. "You and the Chief are the only ones with implants, Ryan's sub-dermal omni-tool chip notwithstanding. Why don't you see what you can do?" With that, he walked towards the dreaded elevator to go visit Wrex.

Cole sighed. "I don't know what good it'll do, but I know I have to try something. Ryan will leave you on the ship for each assignment if he thought your migraines were a risk to the mission. I can't do much, but I have a non-invasive trick that could seriously decrease the pain. Let me know if you're willing to give it a try."

Kaidan looked stunned, but quickly regained his composure. "I'll keep that in mind, Cole. For now though, I think I'll stay the course. I got this far without any assistance, and I like my brain intact. Still, what makes you so sure that the Commander would react that strongly?"

Cole pushed off of the wall behind him and stared off into space, anger visible on his features. "Because he did it to me." With that, the conduit headed for the elevator.

He was happy to see that Alex was there waiting for him. "This thing is way too slow for two trips, so I figured I'd save you the agony."

Cole chuckled. "Much obliged. So how did Wrex take it? Does he believe the truth?"

Alex sighed. "I made a pretty good case. If he doesn't believe me, he's at least got the sense not to say anything. I'm on my way to see how he's settling in. Maybe I'll ask him about the Genophage while I'm at it. The damn thing turned most of the krogan into mercenaries, and I'll bet he's got some interesting ones to tell."

Cole groaned. "You saw that look in his eye when he walked on the ship, right? Just like any friend of a Unique, Wrex has unfinished business, and we get to help him finish it. Same story every time. I'm gonna check in with Ashley. She's not saying anything, but she doesn't like having all these aliens on the ship. I need to talk with her before Ryan does. The Alliance did pretty good at getting him to clean up his act, but they also gave him the authority that comes with rank. She can afford to question my decisions, but she can't question Ryan's quite yet."

"Fair enough."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage and Armory_

Cole and Alex stepped out of the elevator to see that there were plenty of people already in the room. Wrex was leaning against the wall by the armor lockers. Garrus was working on the Mako. Ryan was exiting the engine room and on his way to speak with the turian. The one that took the cake was Ashley, hard at work at the weapon bench with the Master Chief standing nearby. Apparently, she had found somebody to talk to about her concerns. Unfortunately, the Chief wasn't good at making conversation. Cole quickly walked over and motioned for the Chief to exit. The Chief walked slowly to the elevator, and the Cole was willing to bet his right arm that the giant man was about to see if he could fit into one of those sleeper pods. Some things never change.

Upon realizing that the Chief had left because Cole asked him to, Ashley turned to face the electric man. "Is there a problem, MacGrath? Why send away the big guy?"

Cole sighed again. "First, just call me Cole. Second, I asked him to leave so you didn't cause more harm than good." He saw confusion and anger on her face, so he explained. "The Master Chief is already a fairly xenophobic person. The last thing anyone needs to do is encourage those feelings in him. We're at an impasse here, Ashley. You don't want to trust aliens, and I don't want to get Ryan involved. How about we compromise? Maintain professional courtesy with our alien allies, and trust them enough to get the job done. I'll keep Ryan from doing anything abnormally stupid."

When Ashley looked like she was going to try and press the issue, Cole beat her to it. "You have no real case, Ash. Garrus quit his _job_ to help take down Saren, so he's got our trust. Wrex is in this for the thrill of battle, and Alex vouches for him. Finally, how do you expect the quarians to break free of the 'race of thieves' stereotype if nobody gives them the opportunity to do so?"

Ashley took a moment to digest all of this before she replied. "So it won't matter what I say?"

"Oh it matters. Ryan will respect your opinion as yours. He gives everyone that courtesy. The problem is that he extends that courtesy to himself as well. This early into the mission, nothing you do can change his mind." Cole was about to leave when something occurred to him. "Don't take this the wrong way, but since you're a woman, you have nothing to fear from Commander Ryan at all. At times, he can be a bit of a… flirt. He's not willing to break regs, but I'd check your six whenever you take point." With that, Cole walked away from the very embarrassed marine.

Alex walked up behind her. He and Wrex had spoken enough for the time being. As a geneticist, it wasn't very comfortable to talk about the Genophage with one of its victims. Having caught the last bit of Cole's chat with Ashley, the virus couldn't resist. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not a chance in hell."

Over at the other end of the garage, things were far less dramatic. Garrus was explaining his romantic views of the Spectres to Ryan, and mostly the Splicer King didn't mind. He was perfectly fine with cutting a few corners if it meant saving the galaxy. But something the turian said had him feeling uneasy. This hotshot had quit the most prestigious police force in the universe just to savor the experience of ignoring red tape.

Garrus sounded excited as he spoke. "And maybe without C-Sec HQ looking over my shoulder all the time, I can finally get the job done _my_ way for a change…"

Ryan stopped him right there. "Garrus, I appreciate everything you bring to the table in this mission, but keep in mind that I won't tolerate you breaking rules just for the hell of it. We'll be racking up a serious body count by the time we're through, but as far as I'm concerned, the smaller that number is, the better a job we did at the end of the day. Innocent blood doesn't wash away, so let's see if we can avoid spilling it in the first place. Are we clear?"

The turian tensed. "I wasn't trying to… I understand, Commander."

Ryan sighed. He couldn't help but think how much his "sister" Eleanor would find the turian adorable. Once his mind processed that thought, he realized that he needed something to drink immediately. He was a Spectre. Contraband be damned.

Before he could go search the medical bay for any alcohol that Dr. Chakwas might have, Joker's voice blared over the intercom. Hitting the relay in five, Commander. You'll need to give me a more precise destination once we're in the Artemis Tau Cluster. Unlike you, I can't access the galaxy map."

"Copy that, Joker." Ryan teleported up to the CIC, startling many with his sudden arrival. He quickly deduced that Therum in the Knossos System was their best bet at finding the doctor.

"Set a course for Therum, Joker. I'm going to prep a team."

The wait was over, and the real work could finally begin.

* * *

**Yeah, so every now and then, I'll do a chapter like this to cover the interactions between the Supernovas and the **_**Normandy**_**'s crew.**

**Here's also a little something from the next chapter:**

* * *

_The human ship would inevitably deploy its rover. The probability that it would attempt to fight past them in an effort to recover Dr. T'Soni was one hundred percent. The forward outpost was the most logical place for geth to counter organics' forward progress. Expendable turret hardware was placed for maximum effect on the Mako should it turn the corner. Armature units would be deployed via dropship to hinder the ground vehicle and its occupants. They would retrieve the asari for Saren-Prophet, and by extension Nazara. Failure was not an option._

_Ryan-Commander's ship deployed its Mako as predicted, but then continued to fly directly over the outpost. Communicating at FTL speeds, it was deduced that the frigate had dropped something else…_

_Before they had time to reach consensus as to what the "something else" was, Alex Mercer slammed into the dead center of the outpost, the shockwave pulverizing every single geth and turret in the vicinity. The viral predator laughed his ass off. "Man, that never gets old!"_

**Read, review, and enjoy!**


	15. Priority: Therum

**I must apologize for leaving you without any proper action for the last two chapters. In the words of the old Broker: "Extreme, but necessary." I wish I didn't have to go into so much detail, but one day, while working on these stories in my head, I realized that I couldn't just jump from fight to fight. I had to do the quiet stuff too.**

**I got a comment from a guest reviewer saying that the geth POV was Legion's. This was not true, but Legion will be making a brief cameo in a future chapter, so keep your eyes peeled.**

**But we have managed it for now, and I guarantee plenty of action before you get another chapter like that last one! This time, the Supernovas fight over who gets to go down onto the lava-covered planet. Once they arrive, they kill lots of geth, meet geth armatures, colossi, and hoppers for the first time, and enter a Prothean ruin. They kill more geth, save the damsel in distress, and almost get caught in a volcanic eruption on the way out. Good times ahead.**

**By the way, the volcanic eruption scene will be a little bit more dramatic than it was in the actual game. Limbs will even be lost… by those who can grow new ones.**

**BE WARNED! There is a flashback sequence to a previous Supernova job that Cole went on. It contains major spoilers for inFAMOUS 2 spoilers as well as mild-to-moderate spoilers for Bioshock Infinite. The flashback may seem like it has no place here, but trust me, it matters. It **_**seriously**_** matters, and if you're smart, you'll probably see just why it's there. It has a deeper purpose of course, but it's also there to show that not every job goes off without a hitch, and those are the jobs that haunt the Supernovas for the rest of their lives.**

**I would prefer that anyone who has already played Bioshock Infinite hold their comments on how "impossible" such a job would be considering the game's ending. I already have a relatively feasible explanation on hand, but that comes in a **_**much**_** later chapter. I ask for your patience. I will say this however (spoilers): They shouldn't have left behind the bird's remains. **

**Warning: Spoilers for Bioshock, Prototype, inFAMOUS (major!), Halo, Bioshock Infinite (moderate), Assassin's Creed: Revelations (minor), and obviously Mass Effect. Minor references to other video game series may also be present.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the media seen in this story. I do, however, own **_**at**_** Mass Effect 3 with the M-90 Indra!**

* * *

Priority: Therum

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_Orbiting Therum_

"Why am I getting left behind? I get messed up by water not lava." Cole was trying to see any logic in the Splicer Spectre's decision. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "You on the other hand, were born at the bottom of the Atlantic, yet it's perfectly fine for you to go down there?"

Ryan sighed, this was an _excellent_ start. He was already upset that they couldn't bring the Chief simply because the Mako's re-entry systems conflicted with the gel layer in the Spartan's armor. "Cole, there is no obvious source of electricity down there except for the geth. And I'd rather you find a power source that doesn't try to shoot you. Your implant is good, but not infinite in supply."

"But what about the 'off the damn charts' readings that Joker mentioned? They're coming from inside that ruin. Readings mean energy."

Ryan growled. "And how do you suppose energy from a Prothean ruin will react to your presence? Your powers are the most unstable of anyone's. We're lucky that the ship hasn't disintegrated simply because you're standing near its drive core! I, on the other hand, have an innate resistance to all of the elements, and Alex doesn't get denatured like normal DNA." Ryan stepped back and calmed down. "If it makes you feel better, Hackett sent a lead on your old ''friend' Elanos Haliat. We won't know where to go after we get Dr. T'Soni, so if you let me handle this my way, you can set a course straight for his last known location. Deal?"

Cole thought about this for a moment. Technically, there was nothing stopping him from going anyway, nor would Ryan simply allow Haliat to roam free if Cole disobeyed. Still, it would be better for the rest of the crew to see them cooperating rather than killing each other. Plus, he knew that the implant may not hold out. He was good against the geth of course, but they had a natural resistance to his basic lightning bolts, so taking them down cost more energy than taking down an organic opponent. Finally, Ryan would have to put up with Alex's commentary for the entire mission if he left Cole behind, so that was a petty victory right there. He'd back down for now.

Taking Cole's silence as an affirmative, Ryan turned to the squad that was gathered by the armory. "Wrex, Tali, and Williams, front and center."

The rest of the team left the garage so the Mako could be deployed safely. As the three squad members and Ryan got inside the vehicle, Ashley was confused. Sir, you can fit four people into the Mako on a good day. How are we supposed to fit _five_?"

Ryan simply smiled. "When did I say Alex was riding with us? Hit it Joker!"

Air rushed into the room, and when the Mako didn't immediately deploy, Tali pulled up the external cameras. "Keelah! What in the hell is Mercer doing? He and MacGrath are just standing there!"

It was true. The two Supernovas were simply standing off to the side, as if there wasn't any concern of falling into Therum's upper atmosphere. Ryan smiled again. "He'll be taking the express at a point further ahead of us to save us some trouble."

Alex made a sweeping "after you" gesture, and Ryan hit the switch. Lurching forward, the Mako's occupants braced themselves. The rover surged out of the garage and plummeted to the fiery planet below.

Alex and Cole walked up to the edge of the floor. Cole hadn't noticed it at Torfan since he had dropped first, but this situation was reminding him of a similar experience with another hooded Supernova. He clenched his fist as the unwanted memories rose to the surface…

* * *

_Flashback_

_Columbia Paradox Rift #3_

_Emporia Sky-Lines_

_Airship on approach_

_Cole looked down on the complete devastation that had been created. There were flames, bodies, and blood everywhere, and the Vox were still shooting anything that moved. A heavy sigh reminded him he wasn't alone. His ally turned to him. "All this death… What genius in the organization thought it was a __**good**__ idea to open up Halla to a place filled with unstable dimensional rifts?"_

_Cole shook his head. "I don't know, Desmond. Whoever it was, I honestly don't think they knew this would be the consequence. Hell, we don't even have the names of the Uniques from this territory!" A drop of blood fell from the conduit's nose. "I can already feel my connection to Conduit Earth slipping. We've got to close this job fast."_

_The assassin nodded and pointed at a nearby sky-line. "I can get into the premises from there. Be ready to back me up, though," He was now pointing into the distance. "There's a Handyman on the way."_

_With that, Desmond Miles crouched on the very edge of the airship they had "borrowed" before jumping off in a flawless Leap of Faith. As he neared the sky-line, the hooded assassin flicked his wrist, extending a hook-blade that had been modified specifically for this job. Hooking onto the convoluted track at a descending section, Desmond lessened the force that would rip a normal man's arm from its socket. Now on the sky-line, he rode it forward, tossing knives and small bombs into groups of enemies and firing his hidden gun at oncoming traffic._

_Now it was Cole's turn. He set his ride on a crash course with the nearest Vox gunship. He would have simply struck them all down with a lightning storm, but whenever he did, not only would Comstock take the credit as a means of rallying people to his cause, but even worse, that __**damn**__**bird**__ would show up. They had promised this territory's mysterious Uniques not to kill the abomination, and while the rules declared that no Unique could order how to have their territory saved, this was far from the typical job. The stakes were unbelievably high this time, so if the powers that be had any advice, the Supernovas would damn well follow it. Alex could only hold the thing's attention for so long. The sociopath was meant for brutality not distraction. It was likely that Alex would soon run out of patience and kill the metal monster by accident._

_Leaping off the barge just before it smashed into the gunship for a fantastic explosion, Cole landed feet first on the sky-line. Smoothing out into an Induction Grind, he glided over the top of the rail, rather than hanging from the bottom. Cole leveled the landscape with an endless barrage of electric artillery. Anyone that tried to use the underside of the sky-line was sent falling to their deaths, courtesy of his Amp._

_They were doing well, until the Handyman showed up. Unfortunately, the gorilla-like heavy hitter was all but immune to lightning, so Cole had to get creative. Leaping off the sky-line, he slammed into the courtyard and unleashed pair of cryo rockets from his palms. They traveled faster than his electric rockets, and they froze whatever they hit. Both of the Handyman's giant limbs were trapped by the attack, leaving its fragile heart completely vulnerable. Desmond came down with perfect imitation of his ancestors, releasing the hidden blade and plunging it deep into the tragic creature's chest. Injecting the blade's poison, the Handyman was dead before it hit the floor._

_Between Desmond's Eagle Vision and Cole's rudimentary control over quantum mechanics thanks to Kessler, the two were the best candidates for fixing this mess._

_Clapping black-clad assassin on the back, Cole nodded toward the Comstock House. "Time to hit the old man where it hurts."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

Forcing the rest of the memory away, Cole sighed. He had lost so much in that job, and since they hadn't completely succeeded, his connection to his former home had been completely cut off.

Cole couldn't have ever gone back to Conduit Earth anyway, since he had already died, along with the Beast and every other conduit on the planet that was killed by the RFI. But rather than let him rest, Kessler convinced Old Man Pendragon to revive Cole within Halla. It was a single exception to the finality of death: those that died on their home territory, like him, could be brought back to life by Pendragon. But death on a foreign territory was still the end of the road.

Rather than congratulate Cole on succeeding where he failed, Kessler merely "asked" his younger self to join the Supernovas. With no other choice, and the blood of millions of conduits on his hands, Cole had accepted the offer.

And until the Columbia Paradox Job, things had been really good. He made friends like Alex, Desmond, and the Chief. He had a purpose that suited him. And in a second it was all gone. That little game of "quantum hopscotch" on Columbia had stripped him of all abilities. Kessler had done what he could to restore Cole to his former strength, but since the Unique had never possessed any ice abilities at all, it was pretty safe to say that Cole had lost those for good. All Kessler could do was give Cole back the powers he had when they clashed in Empire City, along with a few of the Unique's own tricks to make up for the loss.

But the entire experience of failing, losing his powers, and discovering the horrible truth behind the job had been too much to take in all at once. In his grief, Cole had cast aside his Amp and replaced his New Marais attire with the old outfit he wore back in Empire city. He wandered the ruins of the Mojave until he could think straight, then rejoined the Supernovas and regained what passed for normalcy in their line of work.

Alex noticed the familiar look on his best friend's face: That was the "I hate Columbia" look. He didn't know what all had been done to Cole during the Columbia Paradox job since he had been too busy playing cat and mouse with a multi-ton mechanical bird. He knew that Cole wasn't the same after that day. The guy also had lost more than just his powers. It well and truly had sucked for him, and a few other Supernovas back in Halla had suffered even worse fates. The kicker was that the Uniques refused to comment on who – or what – had caused it all in the first place, but since it affected Cole so badly, Alex was positive that Kessler, as usual had all the unfortunate answers.

Shaking Cole by the shoulder to gain his attention, Alex gave him a reassuring grin. Looking at the intercom, the hunter shouted, "Joker, if you miss, and I land in the lava, I'm coming back here and eating you!" With that, he dove straight out of the hangar, aiming for the geth outpost below.

Cole sighed before saying, "You know he was being serious right? Lava doesn't kill him very quickly."

"Oh… Shit…" was all Joker said in response.

* * *

_Therum_

_Industrial Outpost_

The human ship would inevitably deploy its rover. The probability that it would attempt to fight past them in an effort to recover Dr. T'Soni was one hundred percent. The forward outpost was the most logical place for geth to counter organics' forward progress. Expendable turret hardware was placed for maximum effect on the Mako should it turn the corner. Armature units would be deployed via dropship to hinder the ground vehicle and its occupants. They would retrieve the asari for Saren-Prophet, and by extension, Nazara. Failure was not an option.

Ryan-Commander's ship deployed its Mako as predicted, but then continued to fly directly over the outpost. Communicating at FTL speeds, it was deduced that the frigate had dropped something else…

Before they had time to reach consensus as to what the "something else" was, Alex Mercer landed in the dead center of the outpost, pulverizing every single geth in sight. The viral predator laughed his ass off. "Man, that never gets old!"

Radioing Team 1, Alex decided to give them a little grief. "How was your landing boys and girls? Did you manage to hold down your meals?"

"What?" came the reply from Wrex. "You saying you didn't eat?"

Alex laughed, "I eat _people_, Wrex, and I don't do it for any nutritional value. I don't even require sustenance unless I'm dangerously low on biomass."

"To answer your question, Mercer," Ryan interrupted. "We're all fine." The groans in the background begged to differ. "We're en route, but I don't think the geth will let us have an easy approach. See if you can clear the way ahead, and we'll rendezvous at the main ruin."

"Copy that, Team One. Mercer out." Alex shifted to his whipfist, and took off for the Prothean in the distance.

* * *

_Therum_

_Team 1_

_Mako Drop Zone_

"Who in the name of the ancestors taught you how to drive? Tell me now so I can 'thank' them later!" Tali was positive that ground vehicles weren't made for these kinds of maneuvers.

Ryan looked back at her as if he didn't even need to look at the lava-filled road ahead (and from what he had told her about his abilities, he probably didn't). "The Chief taught me. The thing is, he taught me using a vehicle that _didn't_ have these stupid, vertically-aligned mass effect field generators, so I'm winging it!"

"That's it! Next time, I'm driving, Commander!" came Ashley's voice from her left.

"Marine! Did I give you permission to bitch?" Ryan screamed as he swerved away from a river of lava, just barely keeping on the path.

"Sir, no Sir!"

"If you three are done playing down there," Wrex boomed from the turret controls. "Then you might want to take a look ahead!"

Sure enough, the krogan was right to warn them. Soon, a geth dropship screamed by their position, releasing two large objects before flying off. The objects unfolded, and four limbs and a head extended from the main body. Raising themselves off the ground, they turned toward the Mako and promptly attacked with siege pulse weaponry.

Tali realized that she could prove useful here by informing the others what they were actually looking at. "Ryan, those are armatures. They're literally walking tanks."

Ryan told Wrex to open fire, then turned back to her. "Can we disable the pilot from here?"

"It's not piloted by geth. It _is_ a geth!"

Her Commander tapped his comm. "You get all that, Mercer?"

"Every word."

Tali was very grateful for her mask at the moment, as it prevented anyone from seeing her embarrassment. She had completely forgotten that Alex, on foot, might need the same information. According to Ryan, the powerful creature had a thing for hijacking vehicles, so calling it a tank would have gotten Alex nothing more than a siege pulse to the face.

A feeling of weightlessness shook the quarian from her musings as Ryan hit the Mako's thrusters, jumping over an incoming siege pulse. They were getting pounded by the armatures' secondary machine guns, but Ryan was still driving straight at them. "_Keelah, what is he doing?_" Tali thought.

While Wrex was drowning the closer armature in cannon fire, Ryan slammed the Mako directly into the machine, knocking it off its feet and sending it sprawling. While it was down, Wrex ripped its exposed underside to shreds with a barrage from their vehicle's turret. And at the last second, Ryan boosted again, avoiding another siege pulse from the remaining armature. Rather than let Wrex keep shooting, he simply rammed the thing into the nearby lake of lava.

"Sir," Ashley began firmly. "I'm all for cutting corners with the politicians, but I am _begging_ you: please use this vehicle the way it was designed!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Wrex grumbled. It took Tali a moment to realize that he was being completely serious.

Ryan rolled his eyes and radioed Alex. "We're coming up on your drop site, Mercer. You make any decent progress?"

Alex's voice did not sound happy over the open channel. "Yeah, I've made progress. And Tali? You were planning on mentioning the really _big_ armatures at some point, right?"

"Oh, Keelah." Tali said, eyes wide behind the opaque facemask. "A colossus."

Ryan floored the accelerator. He wasn't concerned about his viral associate. He just didn't want to miss the show.

* * *

_Therum_

_Team 2_

_Roadway_

Rocket troopers, two armatures, and an aptly-named "Colossus" were attempting to keep Alex from getting any closer to the ruins. He really was going to enjoy this fight. All previous resistance had been too easy, so a fight against three Nova-class opponents was like a gift for him. The lava made it all the more exciting.

As the rocket troopers fired at him, Alex dodged the first rocket, caught the second by the tail with his whipfist, and brought it down hard on the left armature's lamp-shaped head. Normally a single rocket wouldn't do the trick, but the added force generated by Alex's prehensile arm had been more than enough to bring down the geth quadruped. Lashing out a second time with the whip, Alex sliced through the rocket troopers effortlessly. Now dodging siege pulses and machine gun fire, Alex ran around the giant platforms, gathering speed as he went. At the last second, he leapt into the air, tensed up, and dropkicked the second armature into the nearby stream of lava.

Back-flipping out of the kick, Alex stuck the landing, only for his world to turn completely white. The colossus had fantastic trajectory plotting, and it had finally impacted its agile target with a heavy siege pulse. Telemetry data indicated that Alex Mercer had survived worse injuries, and this was unlikely the end of combat.

Before another pulse could finish charging, though, several dozen spikes tore up from the ground, penetrating systems all throughout the colossus's body. Judging that extending the spikes had rendered Alex immobile, the colossus fired again and again. This caused the spikes to quickly detract, but the motion dragged the colossus off its feet in the process.

The geth tank moved to get back up, only to detect that all limbs had been ripped off. The figure of an armored Alex Mercer strode up to its giant foe's camera-shaped head, and placed one foot above it. He looked down and grinned. "Lucky shot," was all he said before crushing the colossus's head under his heel like an insect.

Turning around, Alex looked out at the Mako that was sitting a good kilometer away. "You could have helped, you know?"

Ryan's voice came in over the comm. as the tank came closer. "Yeah, about that. After Tali explained what a geth colossus actually was, Wrex and Ashley made a bet on whether or not you could actually win alone. Seriously! You killed at least ten thresher maws on Akuze, and my gunnery chief questions your ability to take on that little thing? Ashley, pay the krogan, would you kindly?"

It never failed to freak the hell out of Alex whenever he heard Ryan use that phrase. Several of the veteran Supernovas knew very well what the significance behind those three words. The predator ran alongside the Mako until they hit a snag. The path was blocked and the radar was jammed. It was obviously a trap.

"Well," Ryan said awkwardly. "Looks like we're walking from here." Alex's suggestion to toss the Mako over the roadblock was shot down by all parties, Wrex included.

They exited the rover, guns at the ready and made their way forward. Instantly, the group was assaulted by a squad of geth snipers, rocket troopers, and shock troopers. Ryan was grateful that his teammates had acquired Master Gear weaponry, since they needed the accuracy from such a vulnerable position. Anything Wrex and Ash weren't blowing apart was dying at the hands of either Tali's own shotgun or the geth she had hacked. That last action earned her a few points in Ryan's book. Even _his_ hacking plasmids wouldn't work on the synthetic machines.

When the sounds of combat finally stopped, they all proceeded to what looked like the entrance to the Prothean ruins. The whole place screamed "trap" to Ryan, so when a new variant of geth leapt out of hiding and began to jump all over the place, the splicer merely said, "Check it out. Spider-geth."

Wrex and Alex's chuckles were drowned out by the sounds of a geth dropship swooping in and deploying an armature and various kinds of troopers to eliminate the team. Now with an actual fight on their hands, the squad took cover to avoid the siege pulse. "Mercer, we can't do much with those hoppers pinning us down. They can sabotage weapons, tech, and biotics with their damn beams! I got hit, and now my teleport isn't working!"

"Gee, Ryan," the virus droned. "I'm pretty sure that Cole would be completely immune to an attack like that. Maybe we should have brought him, since the siege pulse is electric-based too…"

"Not now Mercer!"

"Fine, dead spider-geth coming up."

Alex ran into the thick of the field and followed the geth hoppers wherever they jumped. He was just as nimble as they were, and in a few minutes the ground was littered with their froglike corpses. Unfortunately, he had taken quite a few hits on this little voyage, and he hadn't consumed anything since the Citadel, so he was in no position to be hit by any more siege pulses. Dodging the armature's main weapon just in time, Alex began to climb up the scaffolding that surrounded the entrance to the ruin. When he had gained enough height, he switched to hammerfists, and dropped down hard on the two rocket troopers that were pinning down his teammates. This was a mistake.

Alex's little surprise attack had the unintended effect of causing his victims to fire, sending stray rockets into Ashley and Tali's cover. The quarian, focused on hacking the now-defunct geth, was caught in the blast radius and knocked out of safety. The armature had a clean shot. With a hairline crack in her helmet, all Tali could think about was how disappointed her father would be.

The air in front of Tali shattered as Ryan appeared and redirected the incoming siege pulse with a sonic boom plasmid. Clenching his right fist, the telltale orange glow of an omni-tool materialized around his forearm. Tali was afraid for her Commander's sanity, since any omni-tool weaponry would be ineffective against an armature. Then, instead of forming a simple mini-fabricated blade, Ryan's fist disappeared behind a rotating… drill?

Her Commander used an "omni-drill" for emergency close combat. What had he said to her before?

"_I have an omni-tool weapon, and I assure you, if the need arises, I won't hesitate to use it."_

Apparently the need had arisen.

_**VROOM**_

In less than a second and with no teleportation, Ryan crossed the twenty-meter gap between him and the armature and rammed his drill straight through its head, utterly devastating the platform's systems. The momentum carried him right past its head, so he was now standing on its back. As the whole machine came crashing down, Ryan slid down the remnants of the armature's ruined neck, landing on his feet with inhuman grace.

Walking up to Alex, the Splicer King kicked his viral associate in the nuts and whispered, "While you grow those back, keep in mind that we're going to talk about this later."

Ryan turned to his highly impressed squad and motioned for them to follow as he opened the door to the Prothean ruins.

_Therum_

_Prothean Ruins_

_Prothean Barrier Curtain_

"_Well done T'Soni_." The asari archaeologist thought to herself. Not only had she found relatively little in the way of new information about the Protheans, but when fleeing the geth that had attacked her excavation group from nowhere, she had managed to get herself trapped by the very same security field that was keeping them from getting to her. Some Prothean "expert" she turned out to be. Now, if the geth and the krogan leading them didn't get to her, she'd die from thirst and hunger due to her own mistakes. Her mother would be so _proud_.

BOOM

Was that gunfire? Nobody had made it out alive, and certainly nobody would come looking for her.

CLANG! CLANG! WHAM!

Now Liara knew she was hearing things, since only melee weapons from the ancient times would make sounds like that. Of course her doubts were erased when the head and left shoulder of a geth dropped down to the floor in front of her, followed shortly by a hooded human in a black leather jacket.

He looked at her and she didn't know what to think. His eyes weren't like any she had ever seen. While primal at first glance, the brilliance was obvious. This was a powerful individual standing before her. He was a true hunter. It was no wonder he had been able to track her down. Why he had even come for her was still a mystery.

The hooded man signaled to his left, then returned his gaze to Liara and said, "Dr. T'Soni? Dr. Alex Mercer at your service. You seem to be in a bit of a bind, and we'll help you, but only if you can return the favor once the bullets stop flying. Deal?"

Liara was still stunned by this turn of events, but she recovered well enough to form a sentence. "O-of course. This thing is a Prothean security device. Nothing can reach me, but I can't move either. The worst part is that it can only be deactivated from my side, which you can imagine might be rather hard to accomplish for either party.

"I could teleport to the other side relatively easily" suggested a new arrival. He was dressed in a strange hybrid of armor and what looked like drell attire. Did he say teleport? Perhaps he was a biotic, but using biotics to hurl oneself through a wall results in sterility.

Before she could open her mouth to warn the man, Dr. Mercer countered his argument. "You do that, and maybe you can bring the bubble down, but that leaves us out here with a barrier curtain in the way. What then? The elevator we used isn't in all that great condition. Once again, if Cole were here, he'd simply drain the barrier. You really didn't think this one through, Ryan."

Liara was now very confused. "I don't want to seem pushy, but there are still more geth out there, and a krogan battlemaster is lurking somewhere around here." The krogan standing with the group before her muttered something about _being_ a battlemaster, but she ignored it. "They're working on ways to break past the barrier, and I would appreciate if you could do so first."

The human woman looked skeptical. "Hold on. "Your mother works for Saren, so whose side are you on?"

Liara rolled her eyes. Was this really the time? "I'm not on anybody's side. She's my mother, yes, but I am _nothing_ like her! We haven't spoken in years. Please! I just want to get out of here!"

Dr. Mercer cocked his head to the side, analyzing her. She felt rather exposed under his gaze. Then he grinned, and Liara wasn't sure if that was good or bad news. "I believe her. I cut ties with my parents when I became a legal adult. She's got the same look in her eyes, but a different reason for it." Everyone seemed to be satisfied with this conclusion.

Dr. Mercer turned to face the large excavation chamber behind them. "If I could direct your attention this way, I believe the geth have provided us with a means of bypassing this barrier."

It was true. The chamber below was filled with geth, and there was a giant mining laser there too. The one called Ryan turned to Dr. Mercer. "Are we actually doing this because it will work? Cuz from where I'm standing, it looks like more of your favorite philosophy: 'when in doubt, blow shit up.'"

Dr. Mercer gave a discomforting laugh. "Who said anything about _doubt_?"

He didn't elaborate further, but instead he leapt off the balcony and practically flew across the length of the chamber. The krogan quickly followed, accusing the human doctor of taking all the fun. Ryan turned to the human and quarian women standing by him and sighed. "Just sit tight Dr. T'Soni. We'll be back soon enough."

As eager as she was to leave, the thought of them returning was not entirely comforting.

More sounds of metal being torn apart came from the distance, and she was beginning to wonder just what kind of people had come to her rescue.

A thunderous noise echoed across the entire complex, halting any further coherent thought. Apparently Dr. Mercer had found his explosion. A couple minutes later she heard shouting coming from behind her. She couldn't hear much, but what she did catch was about slow elevators. She had to admit, it was a slow elevator for such an advanced race.

"Do I even want to know how you all got back here?" Liara asked Dr. Mercer as he approached.

He gave that unsettling grin again. "I 'knocked' with the mining laser, and a door conveniently appeared."

"I suppose that's one way of doing it. Can you get me down now? I've seen enough geth to last a lifetime." The moment the words left her mouth, Dr. Mercer's expression told her that she would be seeing much more of the geth in the near future. Regardless the hooded doctor disengaged the security bubble holding her in place. If she wasn't so positive that Mercer wasn't the "touching" sort, she would have given him a hug for getting her out of that thing.

As they made their way toward the elevator in the back of the room, Liara began to ask the question that was bothering her. "Is this really about my mother and her connection with Saren? What has Benezia told Saren that would warrant geth to attack me?"

The human woman looked at her with disdain again. "Saren's looking for the Conduit. Take a wild guess, Miss Prothean Expert!"

Before Liara could plead her innocence, Ryan stepped between them and began to thunder with the assertive tone of a seasoned commando. "Lock it down, Williams! I value the opinions of my crew, but save any antagonism for the debriefing." He was about to continue but was cut short by a tremor that shook the entire structure.

Liara's eyes went wide. Dr. Mercer might have done too good of a job with the mining laser. "I think your handiwork has triggered a seismic event, Dr. Mercer."

As Ryan radioed someone named "Joker" for a pickup, Mercer turned to her and grinned again. "Drop the formalities. I only demand to be addressed as 'Dr. Mercer' by people I don't like. You haven't annoyed me or shot me yet, so please call me Mercer or just Alex, whichever you prefer."

"ETA: _eight_ minutes? He's gotta be taking a piss! Nothing takes eight minutes!" Ryan fumed.

Before anyone could reply, the elevator came to a jerking halt, and a massive krogan battlemaster stomped into the room flanked by two shock troopers, a rocket trooper, and a sniper. The centuries-old warrior seemed rather calm for one in a room about to collapse. "Surrender!" he bellowed. "Or don't. That would be more fun."

Mercer simply sighed, and looked to the krogan that had been on his side. "Wrex? Do you remember that discussion we had about killing other krogan? Their either idiots or on Saren's payroll, right?"

"Hey!" yelled the enemy krogan. "Hand over the doctor!"

The krogan, Wrex, grunted. "Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe."

"Stop ignoring me!" The battlemaster was on the verge of blood rage now.

Mercer cackled psychotically. "Well guess what? This is both!"

"That's it! I will destroy you!" The battlemaster and his geth allies all targeted Mercer, pounding him with carnage blasts, assassinations shots, rockets, and biotics. This, combined with the already unstable condition of the room released a massive cloud of dust and debris that hid Mercer from sight.

Ryan began to scream like a man possessed. Grabbing Williams and the quarian, he shrieked, "Adrenaline Surge! Hit the deck!" and pulled them to the floor.

Not even a second later, the smoke was blown away by a concussive blast of air, showing a very angry Mercer. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the room and lashed out with his… claws? His hands had been replaced by horrific claws. That would explain the melee sounds from earlier, but it raised so many more questions, Liara didn't know where to begin. The geth were ignored as Mercer disemboweled the hopelessly outmatched krogan battlemaster.

The gutted krogan had been so thoroughly shredded that Liara doubted he even had backup organs in working condition. But Mercer didn't stop there. He let out a furious roar and stomped through the battlemaster's head hard enough to crack the platform below. The next event made Liara want to vomit:

He… ate the krogan's corpse. Mercer assimilated biomass of his victim, absorbing it into his skin. He wasn't wearing a leather jacket or a hood. Those were _part_ of him!

Shifting his right arm from those claws to a sinister barbed appendage, Mercer cleared the room of all geth in a single swipe of what was apparently some kind of whip. He turned back to the group, arms now those of a human again. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Liara only then remembered that there was a more pressing concern than Mercer's… physiology. They all ran as fast as they could for the exit to the ruins. The place was falling apart all around them, and the dormant volcano surrounding the ruins didn't seem so dormant anymore. Smoke was beginning to fill the air, and it was practically raining igneous rocks.

Liara, weak from her imprisonment, had no more energy to keep running. She was convinced this was the end for her, when suddenly a pair of strong arms lifted her and the ground seemed to fly by. Looking up, she was shocked to see that Mercer had picked her up and was now carrying her to safety at impossible speeds. It was amazing how quickly he had shifted from brutal killer to hero.

Her luck changed when the platform gave way under Mercer's feet. He didn't fall, but instead clung to the side of the rock, totally defying gravity. He switched his hold on her, and called out, "Wrex! Catch!" before tossing Liara effortlessly toward the krogan. Moments later, the scaffolding came crashing down on her savior, and lava finally began to pour into the ruin.

"Mercer!" she screamed. But it was too late. Nobody could have survived that. Wrex unceremoniously hoisted Liara over his back and sprinted for the exit. They were so close, but so was the cloud of ash behind them…

Everyone but Alex had just made outside, where a beautiful-looking ship was hovering, when the ash cloud reached the exit.

_**WOOSH**_

* * *

They had cheated death by inches. And whatever Alex was, he had saved her. Liara would never forget that, and whatever these people needed from her, she would gladly provide. She owed him that much.

A rush of cool air shook the asari from her thoughts. The ash was freezing over, and it seemed to be Ryan's doing. How in the goddess had he managed that? Not even cryo grenades could accomplish such a feat!

Walking back to the exit, Ryan peered inside. "How bad is it?" he yelled. Liara couldn't understand why he was shouting to the dead. She understood completely once the dead shouted back.

"Half my face is gone and I'm missing an arm. If you don't want to see that, then get on the _Normandy_ now, cuz I'm coming up!"

Nobody moved. Liara stayed perfectly still, unable to comprehend that he was alive. Her hero had managed to survive falling into a volcano! When that "hero" stepped into the light, she saw the extent of what he was. Most of his body was burnt down to the bone, and his left arm was a bloody stump surrounded by small, black, writhing tendrils. Most of his hood had disintegrated, exposing curly brown hair on the right side, and brain matter on the other.

"_He shouldn't be alive_," she thought. "_Nothing alive looks like that_." Before anyone could speak, a buzz-cut human leapt out of the ship's access ramp and began to take charge.

"Alright, people. The show's over. Keep gawking and I'll make one of _you_ carry him to the Med bay." That sent them all away pretty quickly. "Ryan, we've already got the Mako loaded back on the ship, so all you have left to do is write a mission report for the powers that be, attend the debriefing, and call it a day." When Ryan didn't move, the new arrival clapped him on the arm. "Hey, I've got this covered, just get on the damn ship, and see if Tali needs a new mask before she gets a cold or something from that crack." Ryan hesitated, but finally entered the _Normandy_. The new human turned to him as he left and said, "Oh, and let Joker know that Alex isn't going to kill him! He'll know what it means."

Finally, he turned to Liara. "Dr. T'Soni? I'm Cole MacGrath, Ryan's civilian counterpart. We're the first two human Spectres, and if you're worried about Ugly over here," he gestured to Alex. "Then don't. He'll be fine. He's already regenerating on his own, but I'm taking him to the Med bay. A little helping of biomass will have him back to normal, and our doctor has stocked up on blood packs for this very reason." With that, Cole walked over to Alex, who hadn't made a single movement this entire time. As he took Alex' remaining arm and placed it over his shoulder, Cole said "Luckily, he's lost most of his weight in that volcano. Otherwise I wouldn't have a chance at lifting him. Come on. This ship's leaving, and I'd prefer that you be on it."

Liara finally regained her voice. "Of course MacGrath. Whatever assistance I can provide is yours. Though I must say, you keep strange company."

"Liara," Alex said with clarity not common for a man with half a jaw. "You don't even know the half of it."

* * *

**Read, review, and enjoy.**

**Next time, we debrief and go hunting for Haliat. **


	16. Debrief and Downtime

**PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES!**

**I don't have any idea how to get the poll thing working on my account, so I'm going to request that people send me reviews regarding the future pairings of certain characters. I already have most pairings worked out, but Cole MacGrath remains up in the air. So who would you all like to see with Cole?**

**1. Subject Zero (Jack) *I'm leaning towards this one***

**2. Kasumi Goto**

**3. Miranda Lawson**

**4. Ashley Williams (if she lives)**

**If you're wondering why these are the only choices, it's because the others are either not good matches in my opinion, or they are otherwise unavailable as options for Cole. Keep in mind that nothing's not totally set in stone yet. You can offer advice if you want one of the above paired with somebody else, but I've pretty much got those nailed down. Still, I want you guys to have a say. I can re-work an entire romance subplot in a day, so it's really no big deal.**

**Send your responses in a review **_**please**_**!**

**ALSO: You may notice that some sections of this game's dialogue come almost directly from the game. That's because what Liara says here is incredibly important in the long run. (It's also funny how many times she uses the phrase "those who came before".) Don't hate me, but this was a necessary evil to make it through an otherwise impossible scenario.**

**Okay, I'm done with notes. This time, the team has their first major post-mission debrief, and it goes just as well as anything would with Alex Mercer in the room. Then, while Cole and Ryan try to settle their differences for the time being, Alex explains what he is to poor Liara. Finally, while the Supernovas finish talking with their crew, the **_**Normandy**_** approaches the Amazon System for some unfinished business… **

**Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for all three Bioshock Games, inFAMOUS 1 and 2, Prototype, Mass Effect, Fallout, and Assassin's Creed. There are also Halo spoilers, but only through Halo 3. (Halo 4 has not occurred yet in this saga. I don't like using unfinished works, and I count the Reclaimer Trilogy as a separate work.)**

**Disclaimer: I own the satisfaction that comes from writing this story, but every recognizable element within belongs to a long list of people that doesn't include me.**

* * *

Debrief and Downtime

_SSV Normandy  
CIC Deck  
Comm. Room_

_Two hours after Therum; en route to the Voyager Cluster  
_  
Ryan had twenty minutes until the debrief started, which meant he had five minutes before Cole showed up. He planned to spend that time going over the outcome of his first mission as Commanding Officer for what was probably the hundredth time. The ruin was completely destroyed, and it took thirty liters of blood to restore the biomass Alex had lost. Ryan understood now that he had taken his viral associate's resilience for granted, and when their enemy was an army of synthetics, it put Alex Mercer at a disadvantage if he got… hungry.

At least there was some good news. The crack in Tali's mask was little more than a superficial scratch. A little omni-gel fixed that right up, much to Ryan's relief. He was so used to carrying out off-the-books solo missions for the Uniques, and now he was in charge of a team. It was something he had craved, and he would be damned before anyone died on his watch.

He wanted to blame Alex for indirectly putting Tali in danger, but the crew was praising the sociopath's name for saving Dr. T'Soni and surviving a volcano. If Ryan confronted the shapeshifter, it would only be a reminder that all of this was the Splicer King's own damn fault.

"Score one for the Torfan Tactician," Ryan sighed.

"Hell must be freezing over," Cole's voice came from behind. "Because it sounds like the Rapture Raptor is actually taking responsibility for his actions."

"Do you really hate me so much that you're actually reveling in my mistakes?" Ryan knew there was no avoiding the coming rant, and Cole had every right to lay it on him, but right now, all he wanted was a long rest.

Cole smirked, "I take what I can get. But you're useless if you haven't learned anything, so tell me what you'd do differently in hindsight." His smirk grew wider at Ryan's confused expression. "C'mon. You wanted me to think more like Kessler didn't you? That's what I'm gonna do, but I'll teach you by my standards, not his."

Wary, but eager to see what Cole had in mind, Ryan motioned for him to continue. Cole started with the basics. "Even if you did everything the same right up until the mining laser, I wouldn't have been this upset. But you, the one man who can bring two or three others with him when he teleports, chose to make a run for it. You could have brought Tali, Ash, and Dr. T'Soni back to the ship in seconds, leaving Wrex and Alex to utterly shred that krogan battlemaster. Why didn't you?" When Ryan didn't respond, Cole laughed. "Because you didn't know if your teleport plasmid was even working correctly after that jumping geth zapped you!"

Cole calmed down almost immediately, and continued. "Do you want to know why you brought Alex Mercer? How about why you brought Tali?"

Ryan glared at his electric Spectre counterpart. "Don't keep me hanging. Spare no details!"

Cole kept his expression bored yet neutral, bearing a remarkable similarity to the actual Kessler. "You brought Alex because you wanted to see how well Joker's aim was at dropping a human passenger. The _Normandy_ has to take a very different path of insertion from the _Boston_ back at Torfan, and you wanted to know if we could make that battle's tactic a common one. If Joker missed, Alex would climb out of the lava all pissed, and we'd know not to try it again. If he didn't miss, then we have more room to maneuver. Alex and I don't need a fraction of the space it takes to drop the Mako."

Ryan stared at the ground. Cole was exactly right on everything so far. And he knew the conduit wasn't done yet.

"You can try to rationalize it and say that Tali's hacking expertise would come in handy. After all you were fighting against geth, and you were going into a ruin with strange Prothean tech. But that's not it at all." The look on Ryan's face spelled doom if he continued, but Cole knew that the Rapture Raptor needed to hear this. "You brought her because she reminds you of Eleanor Lamb."

Ryan was barely containing his rage, but Cole kept at it. "You and I both know that your "sister" is the closest thing you have to a damn conscience. You would do anything for her, and you see much of Lamb's best qualities in that quarian." Cole smirked. "I'm not saying that you share a brother-sister bond with Tali the way you do with Eleanor, but the similarities are obvious: She's a child prodigy in an environmental suit with greatness thrust upon her, and she has chosen a 'man' from Rapture as her role model. Unfortunately, she's also quarian with a weak immune system and no idea of the kind of man you really are."

Cole leaned forward in a challenging posture and whispered, "But it's even more than that, isn't it? You feel like you owe her something, don't you? The quarian race is a society that lives on migrating ships and hardly interacts with the rest of civilization. That sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's like Unique Shepard has answered your silent pleas for redemption after-"

"All squad members, report to the comm. room for debriefing! You too Dr. T'Soni. We need to know what you know." Ryan was _not_ letting Cole play that card. Not now, not ever. To his credit, the "Demon of Empire City" let it drop, but he kept that challenging look in his eyes.

* * *

_Two minutes later_

"Too close guys!" Joker announced with half-hearted sarcasm. "A few more seconds and Mercer wouldn't have been the only one swimming in molten sulfur." Alex muttered a few choice words in just as many languages, but Joker ignored him. "The _Normandy_ isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes, unlike some people. A melted hull isn't as easy to fix as a melted Alex Mercer." With that, the wiseass pilot logged off the intercom.

Liara was astounded at the helmsman's audacity. Hadn't he seen what Alex was capable of? Why would he consider making light of such a situation. "Mercer almost died down there and your pilot is making jokes?"

Alex chuckled at the asari's naiveté. "Relax, Liara. He knows he earned the right to make jokes cuz he's the only one who did his job right." Alex glared at Ryan, but quickly looked up at the ceiling and yelled, "Even if his arrival took eight minutes!"

Still trying to get over the shock, Liara struggled to find the right words. "I-I see. This must be a human concept. I'll admit I don't have much experience dealing with… I'd say 'humans,' but you aren't all human are you? What exactly are you, Mercer?" She had been dying to know more about her bizarre rescuer since he had obliterated that krogan. Unfortunately, he'd spent all his time since she came aboard in the med bay, and nobody was allowed in except for Cole, the giant armored man, and the ship's doctor. What he had done shouldn't be possible, and she was desperate to know more. She was also a little afraid of what the truth may be, but such is the life of an archaeologist.

Alex leaned back against the wall and cracked a wry smile. He knew this was coming. "Everyone else already knows the story, Liara, so I'll tell you whatever you want to know in private." Before she could object, he continued. "Here's the condensed version. I'm the reason bioweapons are illegal."

Satisfied for the moment, yet now filled with even more questions, Liara nodded. "Regardless, Alex, you have my thanks. You saved my life back there, and I'm not just referring to the volcano. That krogan might have easily killed me or dragged me off to Saren were it not for you."

Alex felt strangely satisfied at this remark. It wasn't anything to do with his ego, having overcome the original Alex Mercer's narcissism. It was more a conclusion that saving people, like Jenkins and Liara, felt just as good as killing the bad guys, if not better. Now he truly understood why Cole seemed so happy after a rescue.

"Which brings us to the real issue," Kaidan said, entering the conversation. "Why _did_ they want you?"

Cole sighed, "She's either leverage for Benezia's cooperation, she knows something about the Conduit, or she has the misfortune of being a loose end." Ryan nodded in agreement.

Liara looked downcast. "I'll have to say, it's likely the third option. I haven't spoken to my mother in years, and the only thing I know about the Conduit is that it somehow ties into the Protheans' extinction. That's my real area of expertise." She looked up at the squad with firm conviction. I have spent the past fifty years trying to discover what happened to them."

Alex gave a low whistle. "Fifty years? That's dedication. Wait… How old does that make you?" He might as well ask now, and compared to what she had asked him a minute ago, the question was harmless.

Shifting awkwardly in her seat, Liara confessed shyly. "I hate to admit it, but I'm only 106."

Ashley gawked. "_Damn_! I hope I look that good when I'm your age!"

Liara spoke of how she was barely considered a child by asari standards, and Alex couldn't help but find it amusing. Far from a "short lived" human, the Blacklight Virus was nigh immortal. She was discussing how poorly viewed her theories on the Protheans were, and Alex chose this moment to speak up again. After all, Ryan was the only other person with the vision, and Alex would prefer not hearing the Splicer King speak at the moment.

"I've kinda got a working theory on what happened to the Protheans," Alex said it in a tone that made him sound helpful rather than smug. It surprised everyone in the room, himself included.

Liara tried to look placating, but most of them could tell she was tired of listening to the theories of others. "With respect, Dr. Mercer, I've heard every possible theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left, remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It is like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part: According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish like this. This cycle began long before them."

That last statement instantly brought everyone's attention to a certain viral predator. When Liara mentioned the word "cycle" it triggered a bout of painful memories in Alex, indicating that they were, unfortunately on the right track.

All four powerhouses were very upset at the implications. Any veteran Supernova knew that an extinction cycle was one of the worst scenarios to run into. If Liara was correct, then this job just became impossibly harder than it already was. They had to be completely sure she was accurate. They needed to know details.

Chief took point, having the most experience with extinct enigmatic precursors. He and Cortana had spent their spare time looking for similarities between the Forerunners and the Protheans. The results were inconclusive and rather useless, but Cortana had been bored, so they did it anyway.

Leaning forward, the green giant spoke. "How do you know this if there aren't any clues?"

Liara's eyes shone with a defiance that made Alex feel threatened. "I have been working on this for _fifty_ _years_. I have tracked down _every_ scrap of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. These patterns all hint at the truth." She paused for a moment, eyes losing some of their fire. "It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific example to prove my case. It is more… a feeling derived from a half century of dedicated research. But I know I am right, and eventually, I will be able to prove it: There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

Alex was impressed by her thoroughness. It reminded him of Manhattan and how far he had gone to discover the truth behind Blackwatch and Hope, Idaho.

Chief, on the other hand, didn't let up. Her dedication to a cause was commendable, but they needed hard facts at the moment. "So if not the Protheans, who was the first? And what's this 'cycle' you keep mentioning?"

The asari maiden looked at the floor in shame. "I don't know," she muttered. "There is barely any evidence on the Protheans. And there is even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory, but I know it is right. The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, only to be suddenly and violently cast down at its apex. Each time, only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements, the Mass Relays and the Citadel, are based off of the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

Alex, Cole, and Ryan, despite their neutral expressions, had been struggling to contain their laughter ever since Liara had mentioned "those who came before." Despite the gravity of the situation, all they could think about was Desmond Miles and his dealings with the First Civilization, aka Those Who Came Before.

Finally calming down, Alex was the first to break the news to Liara. "They were wiped out by a race of synthetics called the Reapers. I'd wager that the extinction cycle was their work."

Liara almost fell out of her chair at this. "The… Reapers? But I've never heard of… What proof do you have? How can you be so sure?" She seemed almost angry that they had claimed to know something that she didn't about the Protheans.

Ryan looked to Alex, and they agreed to reveal the vision. "Commander Ryan and I were on Eden Prime. A damaged Prothean beacon shoved a vision inside our skulls." Seeing Liara's shock and confusion, he continued. "Having someone else's memories shoved inside my head is nothing new, but the message was Prothean specific, not to mention incomplete, so I'm still a long way from truly understanding what it said. I can't speak for Ryan, but I'd imagine it's largely the same."

It was true. Ryan had indirectly acquired the knowledge of anyone from Rapture to ever use ADAM. It had none of the drawbacks that regular splicers suffered, and it only added to his knowledge and experience, much like how Alex gained such things from the people he consumed.

Liara was awestruck. "Yes. A vision would make sense. They transmit information directly to the minds of the user. But they were built with Prothean physiology in mind. Anything you two received would have naturally been alien to your minds. I'm amazed you could make any sense of it at all."

"Hold on," Tali interrupted. "Mercer can eat aliens, right? He understands all their memories, so what makes the Prothean vision indecipherable?"

Liara actually responded to this. "I'd assume that he can understand the memories by… assimilating the proper thought processes at the genetic level. The beacon would be different. He has the memories from the Protheans' beacon, but without having, uh… eaten a Prothean, he can't view the vision as genetic memory in a comprehensible format."

Alex nodded his head. "Impressive, Dr. T'Soni."

Liara shook her head. "I'm the one who should be impressed, Alex. If that is truly the case, then you've endured a great deal more than anyone could understand. A lesser mind would be destroyed by such an ordeal, but you seem remarkably unfazed. You must have an incredible will, Alex Mercer."

"Yeah, that's real sweet," Ashley remarked, tired of the asari's gushing. "But it's not helping us find Saren or the Conduit."

Ryan sighed in agreement. "And it already seems like she didn't know much on either subject." He turned to Liara, "No offense intended, Liara. It's just that you were the only lead the Council had given us."

Cole was about to step in, when Ryan impressed him. "Still, whatever Saren wants with you, I don't intend to let him have it. I have to know though, are you any good in a fight?"

Wrex chuckled from his corner. "No doubt about it, Ryan." When everyone was looking at the krogan for some kind of explanation, Wrex elaborated. "Archaeology zones draw in mercs and pirates looking for easy credits. If she's survived the job for fifty years, you know she can handle herself. She's no commando, but her biotics would still be impressive."

Alex laughed. "Wrex, you're gonna tell me later what experience you have with asari commandos." He turned to Ryan and glared. "I took a dip in the lava just to keep her alive, so I think it's best we bring her along regardless."

The asari mediator reared its head as Liara stood up and took a role in the debate. This was her fate they were talking about, after all. "I'll gladly help you in any way I can, and this ship is likely the one place Saren could never reach me." Blue biotics rippled across her features. "And Wrex is right. I can handle myself just fine in a firefight."

Ryan grinned. "The food sucks, and the pay is hardly better. Welcome to the _Normandy_."

Liara smiled at them all. "Thank y-" She never finished, staggering about and almost falling down. "So much has happened in so little time. I need a few moments to rest."

Alex sighed. "Yeah, that's my fault. I was hogging the med bay while I regenerated. I'll take you to see Dr. Chakwas. I can imagine you have plenty more questions to ask me anyway."

Ryan nodded. "Crew, dismissed."

Soon, only Cole and Ryan were left behind. They weren't there to continue arguing. Joker had sent off the Therum mission report, and was in the process of patching the two Supernovas through to the Council. This would be just _wonderful_.

"Commander Ryan. MacGrath." The hologram of Councilor Tevos addressed them. We've just received your mission report. We also understand that Dr. T'Soni is still aboard the Normandy."

Sparatus, cheerful as ever, began to question the pair. "Can I assume you've taken the appropriate security precautions?"

Cole couldn't resist. "Unlike how you handled Saren, we actually confirmed her innocence." Sparatus' mandibles flared in irritation.

Ryan enjoyed watching politicians squirm, but he should probably give their bosses something to work with. "She was being targeted by Saren's forces, and it didn't seem to matter to them if she died."

Tevos was incredulous. "Impossible. Benezia would never allow Saren to harm her daughter."

"Perhaps she doesn't know," Valern theorized.

"Or maybe we don't know her," Sparatus declared. "We never suspected she could be a traitor." Ryan let it slide how quick Sparatus was to point the finger at non-turians.

Valern remained neutral. "At least the mission was a success."

Sparatus apparently hadn't made enough accusations. "Aren't we overlooking the fact that they completely destroyed a major Prothean ruin? Was that really necessary?"

Ryan was now out of patience. This was the last time he would speak of his mistakes on Therum. "Did you scrutinize Saren's actions this closely? What he's done makes the destruction of a ruin look like public service, and that's only the _uncensored_ files! How much had he done that you were content to simply not know about? When you can answer that question in detail, then you've earned the right to judge me. Joker, lose this channel!"

The three holograms disappeared in an instant, and Joker's voice came through the intercom. "I love my job."

Cole gaped at Ryan. He'd never seen the Splicer King ashamed of his actions. No matter what had happened, and no matter who got affected, Ryan always felt his actions were justified. He had done things without hesitation that made the likes of Saren look tame. So why was this truly affecting him?

Cole was about to ask, but Ryan beat him to it. "I need your help, MacGrath. I was discreet on Torfan. Major Kyle was the one calling the shots, I just made the plan. I was lucky on Eden Prime. You, Alex, and the Chief made things a lot easier, and I still almost lost Jenkins to poor leadership skills. I've known nothing but death for so damn long…" Ryan turned around and finally looked Cole in the eye. "I've forgotten how to keep my allies alive."

Cole was stunned into silence, and Ryan continued. "You're leadership at the Battle for Hoover Dam was nothing short of a miracle. Before that, you liberated the entire Capitol Wasteland from Enclave oppression. You did it without ever having to operate from the shadows. I need some of that right now if we're gonna keep this team alive. I'm not asking you to do this for me. I don't deserve that. Just do it for the sake of the job." Ryan held out his hand.

Cole debated internally for a brief moment. He couldn't forgive Ryan just for making a pretty speech, but the words rang true. Helping Ryan like this would not only make him a better leader, but it would also increase their allies' chances of surviving this mission. Grabbing the hand, Cole gave it a firm shake. Then he offered the most important piece of advice he had. "Take what you know about Torfan, and apply the same logic with one difference: Each life under your command is far more valuable than your own. Learn that part, then we'll talk more. If you can't figure it out, go see the Chief."

Ryan nodded, and the two made their way out of the comm. room. Ryan headed for the helm, while Cole headed for the crew deck. He wanted to talk with Kaidan and Ashley again. The ghosts of Kaidan's past had to be far more to than a few headaches. (**A/N: I am in no way making light of migraines. I suffer from them myself, so I know how bad it is. You would never think Kaidan was dealing with that kind of pain from the way he acts though.**) As for Ashley, he had to make sure that she was okay after watching yet another alien get welcomed aboard with open arms.

"Cole, you're not Alliance, so I'm gonna be frank." Kaidan stated. "There's writing on the wall here, but the Council isn't reading it."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_En route to Agebinium_

"I prefer gold to silver." Joker said abruptly. "You know: for my medal. I figure you'd want to recommend me for one since I…" He took a moment to silently stroke his ego before continuing. "Pulled your boots out of the fire."

Ryan smirked. He had expected something like this. "Should I include the part where Alex pulled himself out?"

"Point taken, Commander."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Garage Deck_

_Armory_

Cole didn't get the full story about BAat or Conatix, but he had concluded that Kaidan Alenko was without a doubt the sanest man on the whole damn ship. The man was completely unshakeable, even after "knowing" of "accidental" exposures to element zero taking place. He was still far too reserved, even when talking to a civilian like Cole, but he had plenty of idealism, something the whole ship was otherwise lacking.

As he walked near Ashley, he heard something interesting from her terminal. "_Oh before I go: I heard you're serving under Commander Ryan now? We saw him on the news here. He's __**cute**__… later sis!_" At the word "cute" Ashley turned to see who was watching, and upon noticing MacGrath, she flushed six different shades of red.

"Please tell me that by some miracle you didn't hear that?"

Rather than answer directly, Cole decided to tease the embarrassed marine. "What? I'm not cute too?"

Ashley narrowed her eyes. "Ryan is that 'tall, dark, all-star pretty boy' kind of cute. You are much more… rugged." Cole simply cocked an eyebrow, and Ash hung her head, realizing what she had just said. "Just shoot me now." Eager to change the topic, Ashley told him that the message was from her youngest sister. The two talked about her family, which was admittedly a hell of a lot better than Cole's own. Ashley told him of an experience where her sister had utterly curb-stomped a clingy boyfriend.

At the end of the story, Cole said with mild amusement, "I hope he learned the most important part: apologize after the _first_ ass-kicking, not the second." After getting a chuckle out of Ashley, he continued. "Seriously though, where was your father during all of this? I'm pretty sure this kind of thing he would have handled with a few stern words and a boot up the ass."

Cole felt like an ass after she had recited poetry and explained that her father was dead. "He's probably still watching though." She said. "So behave."

"You mean from the afterlife?"

"Yup. He's with God now, Cole." Seeing Cole shift awkwardly, Ashley became nervous. "That's not a problem is it? That I believe in God?"

Rather than explain what being a Supernova did to a guy's faith, Cole reflected on his personal experiences: After the Beast's arrival, Cole was branded as the Demon of Empire City. When he got to New Marais, Bertrand and the Militia had labeled all conduits as unholy freaks. Bertrand declared that conduits weren't part of the divine plan. But when Cole had finally killed the Beast, along with every other conduit on the planet, he was named the Patron Saint of New Marais.

Arcing electricity between his hands, Cole let out a humorless chuckle. "As long the fact that I can do this doesn't bother you, we'll be just fine."

Ashley seemed to visibly relax at his words, but her eyes held a sympathetic look. She could tell that religion had treated him poorly for possessing those special abilities.

Willing to change to subject, Cole gave a sly grin. "I should probably go get ready for the next mission, but before I do, let's hear it."

"Hear what?"

"The part where you disagree with bringing Liara on board."

"Oh… right." When Cole motioned for her to continue, Ashley let it out. "I'm fine with her on board, really. I'm just not sure I buy the part about her mother. Do you really think she's gone for years without speaking to Benezia?"

Cole wasn't expecting this, but he figured he could answer it with a little bit of personal history. "This stays between you, me, and the wall, but I was once a normal guy with a mother, father, and brother. You won't find the records; they don't exist anymore, but my family life wasn't at all pleasant. I dropped out of college six credits short of graduating because a teacher had been mistreating one of my friends. I got a job as a courier because I knew would piss them off. I haven't heard anything from them in years. Hell, I don't even know if they're still alive. Alex had it even worse, but you heard that back on Therum. If he believes Liara, I can guarantee she's not lying about her mother."

Ashley accepted this, and they parted ways, but not before Cole made one final comment. "So about that call from your sister. You sure you don't want Ryan to know, because the guy would probably…" Ashley was now finished reassembling her pistol and giving Cole a look that promised terrible pain if he didn't shut up. "Right, I'm going." He turned around and began shouting at the ship's resident turian. "With all the time you spend working on that rover, you'd better know how to drive it when we get to Agebinium!"

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Med Bay_

"So let me make sure I have this correct. You are a fully sentient virus that can shapeshift, consume organics for knowledge, and survive practically any kind of injury. You have allied yourself with three genetically altered humans, of whom no records exist. And you have had a Prothean beacon transfer a message to your mind." Liara had been given largely the same story as the rest of the squad, though Alex focused the lie a little more on himself, seeing as that was what piqued her interest.

"That's the extremely oversimplified version, Liara, but yes. I'm just as alive as you, and I have more humanity now than the real Alex Mercer ever did." Alex paused, grinned, then all but lounged against the wall behind him. "Are we really back on the Prothean beacon again? Come on. This is the part where you tell me something about yourself."

Surprised at the swift change in topics, Liara's eyes widened. "Me? I'm afraid I'm rather boring in comparison. I have spent most of my time on long digs, unearthing largely mundane items from forgotten Prothean ruins."

"Before I became an unstoppable person of mass destruction, I worked in a lab modifying viruses for money." Alex smirked. "At least you got to visit interesting, sometimes dangerous, places. You'll have to do better than that if you want to convince me that you were 'boring'."

"I suppose that is true. And prior to the Therum expedition, my biotics were enough to handle any confrontation. Of course, there was also the need to get away from the pressure of being a Matriarch's daughter." Liara became rather somber at this. "I threw myself into studying the past because I was sick of hearing how Matriarchs were meant to lead the asari into the future."

"There's more to it than having a rebellious spirit, isn't there?" Alex questioned. A month ago, he wouldn't have given a damn. He chalked it up to the mission. He had fallen into a lake of lava to save her, so he had a right to know more about her.

"Yes, there is," Liara said brightly. "I felt… drawn to the past. The Protheans were these wondrous, mysterious figures. I wanted to know everything about them. That is why I find you so fascinating, Alex." He cocked his head to the side at this, but said nothing. "You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime. You were touched by working Prothean technology!"

Alex couldn't help himself. "Careful, Liara. You're starting to sound like all those scientists who want to find out what makes me tick. Should I be worried that you'll dissect me in my sleep?"

The asari flushed purple, which Alex assumed was the asari equivalent of a blush. "W-what? No! I didn't mean to insinuate, er… I never meant to offend you! I only meant to say that you would be a remarkable specimen for an in-depth study." Alex simply stood there and let her process her own words. "Wait! That's even worse!"

"Relax Liara, or you'll dig yourself a hole all the way to the drive core. I was only kidding anyway."

Liara didn't take this well either. "By the Goddess! How could I be that _dense_? You must think I'm a fool."

Alex gave her a reassuring smile. Not a smirk, not a manic grin, but a genuine smile. "Not in the slightest. It's simply the drawback of spending so much time buried in your work. Trust me, I've been there."

Liara practically beamed. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that, Alex. Still, I'd prefer that we act like that conversation never happened."

"Done, now how about-"

Before Alex could say any more, Joker's voice rang over the intercom. "Hey, super squad! We're approaching Agebinium, and Cole wants everyone back in the comm. room."

Alex turned to Liara. "Come on. You're gonna want to hear this."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Orbiting Agebinium_

Ryan was rather upset that he didn't get to talk with Tali or Garrus. He might have had time, but the Chief had pulled him aside to discuss his suit's gel layer. Mainly, he and Cortana had found a way to work around the interference between the gel's gravity compensation mechanisms and the Mako's own mass-reduction fields during an airdrop. This was very good news, but it required a field test that could put the Chief unconscious if unsuccessful. Thus, he wanted to drop in the Mako on Agebinium.

Alex was also pretty pissed that he hadn't gotten to talk with Wrex and hear what the old krogan knew about asari commandos. Still, this was important to Cole, and there was plenty of time while the conduit finished his crusade against the man who started the Skyllian Blitz.

Cole didn't look happy. In fact, he looked scared as hell. "We've got a problem guys. We may have come here looking for Haliat, but Admiral Hackett just gave us a new objective: There's an old Alliance espionage probe down there, and it's rigged with a nuclear payload. Things will get ugly fast if we don't find that thing and shut it down."

Before anyone could ask for details, Cole raised his hands for silence. "I'll explain on the way, but this needs to be dealt with now. Kaidan, Garrus, Chief. You guys are with me."

The Master Chief was already leaving for the armory. He needed a weapon.

* * *

**Yeah, I don't like writing the downtime. I'll probably cut back on it in the future, but for now it's necessary.**

**I hope you'll forgive me, but I have four exams this week, and Finals the next. I won't be posting next weekend. Sorry…**

**For now, read, review, and enjoy! **


	17. Thunderstruck

**I know I said not expect to anything, but I had some free time pop up.**

**I received a very critical review that implied my story was doomed to unravel at the seams. I respect their opinion, but I'll decide what and how to write. **

**Now, if I can direct your attention to the next line…**

**READ THE NOTE BELOW TO AVOID CONFUSION!**

**I'm not sure how many of you know this, but **_**Elanos Haliat was supposed to be a turian, not a human**_**. He has the voice model of a turian. He refers to Shepard as "your kind" when confronted in the mines via hologram. His eye structure is that of a turian, and if you examine his visor (which should really be replaced by a helmet regardless when he's **_**on a planet with no oxygen**_**), you'll notice that it is awkward on a human head but would fit perfectly on a turian. To the extent of my awareness, I have not ever referred to him as a human in this story. I have called him "a man named Elanos Haliat" but not a human. This was intended (if I missed a spot, and did call him human, please let me know so I can change that). Note that the weapon manufacturing company named **_**Haliat**_** Armory is turian-based. Elanos Haliat, meant to be a turian, very likely owns Haliat Armory. This is how I want to portray him in this story. You are more than welcome to disagree with my personal opinion, and I'll be the first to admit that the dev team screwed up big time on Haliat's character model. Read the chapter, and you'll see why I **_**really**_** had to do it this way.**

**So, I'm guessing you know what happens this time? Elanos Haliat gets his due, Ryan and Alex speak with those not taken on the mission, and when the dust settles, the **_**Normandy**_** team does more than rid the galaxy of a major scumbag…**

**Spoiler Warning: Obviously, Mass Effect spoilers are everywhere. There are **_**major**_** ones for the Bioshock series, the inFAMOUS series, Halo in general, and the ending of the first Prototype game. There are also small spoilers for KotOR I and II and Fallout.**

**Disclaimer: *Holds up wallet.* This is all I've got to my name. It's nowhere near enough to buy the rights to anything you see on this page.**

* * *

Thunderstruck

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_Orbiting Agebinium Drop Zone_

Alex watched as the ground team prepared for tactical drop. Unlike his own method, which involved dropping separately from the Mako, Cole wanted to drop with the Mako.

Scratch that. Cole wanted to _ride on top_ of the Mako while it dropped. It was completely insane. The idea was that Cole could better direct the orbital drop by combining the Mako's vertically aligned mass effect fields with one of his advanced powers. Cole could use his kinetic pulse to telekinetically lift objects caught in the radius. The conduit typically used the things he levitated as makeshift projectiles, but this was different. He hoped that a kinetic pulse could reduce the necessary 100 meters of open area needed for a Mako drop. If it worked, the Mako could be dropped much closer to a destination.

Of course, if it failed, they were going to be picking little pieces of Supernova out of Agebinium's thin atmosphere…

A loud stomp behind the virus informed him that he wasn't alone. Ever since Cole had mentioned the nuclear payload the probe had been rigged with, Alex had been on edge, and Wrex had noticed. The krogan was obviously going to ask him why, and Alex was hesitant to answer. It didn't seem like Wrex would be giving him a choice in the matter though.

"You don't like nukes," the krogan battlemaster stated with a touch of amusement. "You wanna talk about it?"

Alex sighed. "Listen, Wrex. I know that Tuchanka was reduced to a radioactive wasteland when your own kind started nuking each other, but this is different." Wrex took on a curious stance, expecting an explanation. "The krogan can easily survive the radiation, but how many have survived the actual explosion?"

Wrex snorted. "None. That's why we loved using them. Our ancestors didn't see the problem with thermonuclear warfare until our planet was rubble. What's that have to do with-" Suddenly, the old krogan's gaze turned hard. "Alex Mercer, are you shitting me?"

"It was the closest I ever came to dying." Alex closed his eyes, remembering the moment perfectly. "The blast blew me apart. All that remained were a few bits of red viral goo. In the end, a crow came by, and when it tried to eat my remains, my remains ended up consuming the crow. It was unpleasant, but I rebuilt myself from the ground up using the biomass of a crow. I will never forget the pain and trauma that came from that day." He turned to look at the awestruck krogan and thought back on the Retronuke Earth job. "I've had more encounters since then, but compared to what that first one did to me, any other incident has been small time."

Wrex just stood there in shock. Finally, the battlemaster shook his head and laughed. "You've got a serious quad, Alex! What the hell am I supposed to say that tops that story?" A crackling of electricity from on top of the Mako informed them that it was best to exit the garage now. Wrex nodded towards the elevator. "Some other time, I'll make you tell me why there was a nuke in the first place. But first, let's get out of this garage so those four can deploy."

Alex agreed. "Good idea. I'm not setting foot on that planet until the bomb is shut down."

As the elevator slowly crawled up to the Crew Deck, Wrex cocked his head at that last statement. "When did anyone say you were going down there at all?"

The hooded shapeshifter said nothing, but a psychotic grin had stretched across his face, and it was easily the most terrifying thing that Wrex had seen in centuries.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Drive Core Room_

_Three minutes until drop_

"Tali," Ryan began, choosing his words carefully. "Cole is about to surf the Mako down to the planet's surface. This is usually the part where you question our sanity. You okay?"

Tali looked up from her console, as if she just realized Ryan had been standing there. "Huh? Oh, hey Ryan. What were you saying?" Even without his knack for "speaking mask" (as Eleanor Lamb liked to call it), the Splicer King knew something was troubling his quarian engineer.

Frowning, Ryan crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. Constructing a minor fib, he said, "I have an easier time than most when it comes to reading people that wear masks and helmets. For instance, right now I can tell something is really bothering you." He held up a hand to prevent any kind of denial. "Now you're feeling flustered and a little bit defensive. You're feeling like your privacy is invaded. I can do this all day, but that's not the point. I can read body language and pick up subtle tells that even other quarians might not notice, but I'm not reading your mind." He pushed off the railing now and looked directly at Tali's eyes, now shining brightly behind her opaque helmet. "If I could do that, I wouldn't need to ask, would I?"

Tali remained silent, shyly avoiding his gaze. He noticed her eyes briefly flicker over his shoulder, to where Ryan knew Ashley was waiting while the Mako got dropped. This told him that she didn't want to discuss the matter in public. He smirked. "Alright, Tali. You've got until the Mako is deployed to gather your thoughts, then I'm teleporting us up to the crew deck to talk in private." Ignoring the poor quarian's animated vocal complaints, Ryan activated his omni-tool and synced up with Joker's plotted trajectory.

There was a fairly good margin for error in the drop, but if this didn't work, a crash was the least of their worries.

The garage was opened to the outside world, and the Mako dropped. The last thing Ryan heard as the tank left their frigate was Cole yelling, but he couldn't make out the words. Turning to the quarian behind him, Ryan cracked a smile. "Time's up." He grabbed Tali, despite her protests, and teleported them both to the sleeper pod hallway on the floor above.

* * *

_Agebinium_

_Upper Atmosphere_

"Waaaaaahhhoooo!" Cole was having the time of his life surfing the Mako. He wasn't even wearing a helmet since an old upgrade to his powers allowed him to breathe in any kind of atmosphere. He made the addition to his arsenal immediately after a particularly nasty job on Retronuke Earth. Nobody would talk details, but whenever a Supernova complained about working with others, the Uniques simply reminded them of the "Sierra Madre Nightmare" and the whining stopped damn quick.

The technique was out of necessity; all of the usual methods for surviving in hazardous atmospheres either interfered with his powers or got fried by them. Deep space would still kill him, but Kessler taught Cole how to electrically change the chemistry of all air that entered his lungs. The waste ions produced from this kind of process would be toxic to a normal human, but Cole had long since learned that, for conduits like him, the same rules don't apply. The only problem with this technique was that it slowly drained his supply of electricity. Fortunately, the rate of drain was just small enough to be countered by his micro-generator implant for six hours before it began to eat into his normal power reserves.

It had come in handy plenty of times, especially at one job on Nar Shaddaa when an Exchange idiot, Visquis, tried to kill him with gases from the Jekk'Jekk Tarr. That didn't work out so well for anyone, and it only got worse when the oh-so-smug GOTO attempted to electrocute Cole. The rest was… explosive, to say the least.

"Tony Hawk's got _nothing_ on this shit!"

From inside the Mako, Kaidan opened a comm. "You're referencing Tony Hawk? News flash! It's the twenty-second century, Cole!"

Cole ignored the lieutenant. The exhilarating feeling of riding on the top of the Mako was beyond description. He wasn't attached to the Mako by anything but a simple electric charge. At times his shoes weren't even touching the roof of the tank, but he was magnetized enough to stay with the vehicle.

The moment that the Chief engaged the micro-thrusters on the rover, Cole began to work his magic. Unleashing a kinetic pulse, he sharpened the angle of descent while adjusting the speed of the fall to keep the tank from getting pulverized when it landed. In other words, the Supernova was defying everything that Sir Isaac Newton, the deadliest son of a bitch in space, stood for.

And it was awesome.

The landing was just as remarkable. To prevent himself from crashing into the Mako, Cole waited until they were fifty meters from the ground before releasing the kinetic pulse and firing his own static thrusters to separate himself from the tank. The rover hit the ground perfectly, rolling a couple feet forward before coming to a stop. Cole carefully kept his static thrusters pointed against the force of momentum. Hitting the ground on his feet, he absorbed the remaining shock from the fall with no damage to his legs.

They had cut the Mako drop from one hundred meters long down to fifty. The easy part was over.

The hard part was finding an espionage probe rigged with nuclear ordnance before the surface of Agebinium became _far_ more radioactive than it already was. Cole stepped inside the Mako as the Chief drove up to him. The hatch wasn't even closed and the supersoldier was already flooring it. Garrus was already mortified at how quickly the Spartan had undone his hours of tinkering back in the _Normandy's_ garage. "Master Chief!" Garrus yelled. "If you keep driving like this, we're more likely to run over the probe than actually find it on purpose!"

With no trace of concern, Chief said something that threw them off balance more than the driving. "It's several dozen meters below the surface in an abandoned mine shaft. Should I slow down?"

Nobody said anything. Nobody had to. This was an obvious trap, orchestrated by the same man they originally came here looking for. The nuke took priority of course, but one thing was clear in everyone's minds:

Elanos Haliat wasn't leaving this planet alive.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Sleeper pod hallway_

_Status: holding position until contacted by ground team_

"You. Are. An. Absolute. _**Bosh'tet**_. Don't do that again, or I swear I'll quit."

"Tali," Ryan smirked. "It was either that or the elevator, and I _really_ hate that elevator. Teleportation was the quickest way to get you here without our wiseass pilot watching us on his web of security feeds, which I am going to block until we're done talking. I know for a fact something's upsetting you, and I made an educated guess that it was personal." He shrugged. "I've done all that I can to give you privacy. Whether you tell me what's wrong or walk out the door is entirely up to you."

"Why does it matter so much to you?" Tali asked, eyes filled with suspicion.

Without missing a beat, Ryan explained. "Not too long ago, you were overflowing with energy and enthusiasm. Between then and now, you went through a close call on Therum, and that's about it. I want to know what's changed, both for pragmatic reasons and because I'm genuinely curious." She relaxed slightly at that statement. Ryan continued. "Since this is a personal matter, you're either in shock, you doubt your worth to the mission, or it's a completely unrelated issue." He saw the tension return to her shoulders after he voiced the third possibility. "Glad to see it's that last one because I've got enough problems blaming myself for Therum." The Splicer King brushed the matter aside. "But enough about me. Let's talk about you."

Realizing that she had no hope of getting out of this, Tali sighed and asked, "How do you sleep when it's so quiet?"

Ryan had come up with over a hundred possible scenarios that would be causing grief for his quarian engineer. That had certainly _not_ been one of them. He supposed he could relate though. The jobs he did for Uniques Revan and Exile involved an old freighter called the _Ebon Hawk_. Ryan had sworn that the thing was being held together by spit, rust, and prayer sometimes. When the hyperdrive wasn't ticking, it meant T3-M4 had about a minute and a half to fix it, or they were all going to die. Even before that, silence in Rapture was never a good thing. Not counting the way sound was amplified in the water, a moment of peace did not mean the splicers were gone. It just meant that Ryan couldn't see or hear them, and that was _much_ worse.

Of course, since he couldn't say any of this, Ryan simply asked the quarian for clarification. Tali began to explain. "Back on the Flotilla, the last thing you'd want to hear was silence. It meant that an engine's died, or an air filter has shut off."

Ryan nodded. Considering the state of most quarian vessels, her reaction was understandable. But he could tell she wasn't done. "There's more isn't there?" When Tali looked at the floor in minor embarrassment, Ryan sighed, realizing what she needed to hear. "If you're worried I'll think less of you, then don't."

Tali looked up in shock. What was her commander saying? He seemed frustrated, but she wasn't very good at reading human facial expressions. He was getting upset, but it looked different than the angry racism she was accustomed to. Then he started talking again. "You joined us of your own free will. You have just told me that my ship's silence is causing you stress. Naturally, I'm concerned that you might want to go your own way, especially after we almost got you killed on Therum." Tali's throat went dry. Ryan was worried she might leave? He continued before she could explain comment. "I'm no slouch in the engineering department, but you've definitely got me beat. What you've already done for this drive core is borderline miraculous, and unlike me, you can successfully hack the geth. I'd never deny you the right of free choice. If you chose to leave, I wouldn't stop you."

Tali was speechless at this. Rather than kick her off like any other ship captain would, Ryan had given her his express permission to stay only as long as she wanted. What was she supposed to say? "Ryan, I wasn't even planning to leave!"

He seemed pleased with this, but the slowly growing smirk on his face was worrisome. "Then will you tell me what's wrong? Or do we have to teleport again?"

"Keelah, no! I'll talk!" Tali put her hands up in a defensive posture, knowing full well it wouldn't do any good if he was serious. Luckily, Ryan was once again leaning against the sleeper pod. He made a gesture for her to speak, and speak she did. She began to explain how empty the _Normandy_ sometimes felt. She told him how she missed her people back on the Flotilla.

The commander sighed at this, and for a moment, Tali was afraid that he actually did think less of her for worrying over something so trivial. Then he said something she would never forget. "Tali, let me tell you something. I have no blood relatives, and my 'rite of passage' was killing without being killed, like the krogan. From what I can gather though, this Pilgrimage of yours isn't just about bringing something back to the Flotilla. It's also about _going_ back to the Flotilla. It seems like you're supposed to learn to appreciate the life you had before you left. So what you're feeling right now is natural. I can't say for sure, but I'll assume you have family waiting for you when you get back." Tali nodded, unwilling to give any details about her father. "Then keep that family in mind. Everything you do here is going to either keep them safe, make them proud, or both." He became somber. "That's more motivation than I can ever claim to have."

Tali thought about this. Perhaps that truly was the point of the Pilgrimage, and Ryan seemed to be sharing very personal information with her. "Thanks Ryan. That means a lot." The commander smiled warmly at her, and it made Tali _very_ glad that her mask was concealing her face – and her blush.

She was snapped back to reality when he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and teleported them both down to the armory. "You bosh'tet! Why did you do that?"

"Holy crap!" Ashley screamed. "Commander, need remind you that I'm maintaining the _weapons_ over here. No teleporting near the girl with the guns!"

"Ashley." Tali said. "Why don't you just shorten that to 'no teleporting' period?"

Ryan laughed, but otherwise ignored them both. He walked over to his armor locker, pulled out his Firestorm, and tossed it to the Gunnery Chief. "Tali is no longer depressed, and I've got you two not only speaking, but united against me. My job is officially done." Ashley turned slightly red at this. "Yes, Chief Williams. I knew all along you had a mild xenophobic streak. It hasn't caused any problems, aside from minor unwarranted suspicion. As a punishment, you and Tali are going to work _together_ to get that shotgun in working order again. Good day, ladies." He gave them the trademark "Rapture Smile" that melted (most) women's hearts, and vanished from sight.

Ashley flushed a darker red, and turned to Tali. "This is awkward. While we work on this, I think I owe you an explanation."

Tali nodded, "I'd like that, Ashley."

Over in the far corner of the room, an invisible Ryan smiled. He hadn't recovered from the previous teleport yet, so of course he was still there. This was what Cole probably meant.

This was how a team should behave.

* * *

_Agebinium_

_Sub-surface_

_Abandoned mineshaft_

Cole looked to make sure that Chief and Kaidan were covering the entrance before proceeding forward. The probe was definitely sitting inside the room ahead, but the lack of life signs meant Haliat was already gone. Still, the bomb was priority one, so Cole and Garrus moved forward into the small chamber. Cole was about to give the all clear, but he detected an electric signal being sent along the walls of the room. "Get down!"

**BOOM**

The walls exploded behind Cole and his turian associate, sealing them in with the nuclear device. Cortana instantly went about tracking the signal, but there was too much interference from the ore in the mine. Her job became much easier, however, when Haliat actually contacted them via hologram. She attempted to lock onto his position while they all listened to the warlord chat with Cole.

"Cole MacGrath, the 'Storm of Elysium'. We meet at last." The imposing image sounded impossibly smug. He had no idea what kind of hell he had brought upon himself.

Cole, to his credit, didn't even seem impressed. He had almost anticipated this. "Elanos Haliat. You're owner of Haliat Armory, but more importantly, the turian bastard that caused the Skyllian Blitz. You had to know I would find you eventually."

The maniac laughed. "That's where you're wrong boy. I brought you here to make sure you actually died. You can't hope to outrun the blast, especially since we've taken your tank. And you can't signal for help because the rocks in this place are all laced with heavy metals."

At this revelation, Cortana stopped her trace. Any reading she took would hardly be reliable from down here. "Chief, we need to get back outside. I can find them by comm. chatter and by tracking the Mako's signal."

Unaware of the AI's private discussion, Haliat continued with what _had_ to have been a prepared speech. "I was the one that took the blame for the failure at Elysium. That failure was caused by you and your kind! But all that I've lost can be reclaimed, and everyone in the Terminus systems will rally behind me. And then, who knows? Alex Mercer may have Aria's blessing now, but let's see how long that lasts after-"

"And now you're ranting," Cole said in a completely bored voice. He walked forward and disabled the probe by draining all energy from it. Now, there was nothing that could possibly set it off unless somebody actually shot the damn thing. He turned toward the two soldiers on the other side of the rubble. "Get outside and get a fix on him! We'll find a way out from here!" The Chief was across the chamber and out the mine in seconds.

Haliat was incredulous. "Impossible!" The holographic image faced away from them. "Get us back there! I'll finish him myself!" Turning back towards Cole, Haliat's flanging voice rumbled. "Your time is up, MacGrath. Now I'll show you the extent of my wrath!"

"I'm quaking in terror." Cole retorted, rolling his eyes before shorting out the hologram with a bolt of lightning. He stepped past Garrus and walked out of the room, only to see that cave-in had them trapped. Even the other door was blocked off, which was a shame. The schematics showed that it led to high ground, and that would come in handy. It was at this moment that the conduit remembered Haliat's words:

Cole grinned. "Garrus, stay behind me. Kaidan, back the hell away from those rocks."

The lieutenant did as he was told, but remained skeptical. "Cole, isn't this kind of, um, thing… Garrus, help me out here."

Garrus cocked his head slyly. Whether the situation involved assaulting a gentleman's club or being trapped in an abandoned mine, Garrus somehow always looked like he was doing it with style. "I think he's trying to say that you lack Alex Mercer's ability to shatter rock with a slight nudge. I know you're good, but I don't see how lightning bolts can move all this."

Cole never stopped grinning. "Garrus, you're the detective. What did Haliat say about these rocks?"

The turian clicked his mandibles in thought. "The rocks were laced with… heavy metals!"

Cole turned back toward the wall of debris, the grin widening further. "And metal conducts electricity."

Kaidan crouched low, raised a biotic barrier, and screamed, "Fire in the hole!"

Charging a massive current down both shoulders, along his arms, and into his hands, Cole launched a huge electromagnetic blast into the rocks at point blank range.

**CRACK**

If it had been normal stone, this would have needed at least another blast to clear a path. Because of the metal ore, however, the entire mountain of rubble was blown apart, sending rocks everywhere.

Now reunited with Kaidan, Cole turned to the left and repeated the process, and the door to the exit got blown open by some of the larger boulders in the process. The trio raced for the top of the shaft.

It was finally time to kill Elanos Haliat.

* * *

_Agebinium_

_Surface_

_Open terrain_

Spartan 117 was running at insane speeds, not to reach Haliat, but to find something that passed for cover before the warlord's Grizzly could open fire. Even with MJOLNIR armor, there was no surviving a direct hit from those cannons, unless…

Changing his course, the Chief now began to run directly at the pair of tanks. Cortana became _very_ worried. "Chief… What are you doing?"

"Rule Number One of the Spartans" John recited as the barrels of the two Grizzlies took aim. "Adapt or die." Just before they fired, the Spartan slammed his fist into the ground, locking his armor. The impacts were brutal, but his over-clocked shields held, and the Chief was instantly running again.

Every single member of Haliat's private army was too stunned to move. Not only had this armored warrior reached their base from the mine in less than five minutes, but he just withstood two Grizzly shots at once! His timing had been perfect, since Grizzlies had a fairly lengthy cooldown between firing. He had already taken cover behind a small outcropping of rock and was beginning to fire on their position. It wasn't until one of them had died that they remembered to shoot back. On the plus side, they now had him cornered, and they could flank him with his own Mako. A pirate captain signaled for the stolen vehicle's new driver to put the green giant down for good.

Chief heard the Mako before he saw it and swore. He had hoped that Cole and the others would have found a way out by now, but now he would have to defend against three vehicles and an army. He couldn't exactly destroy the _Normandy's _own vehicle, so he needed to hijack it without getting blown to bits by Grizzly fire. "Cortana, any chance you can hack the Mako's gun when they come to flank us?"

"I can, but it would take days of calibrations to fix the thing later."

"It's not like Garrus has anything else to do on the ship," Chief muttered. "Do it."

At that moment, the Mako came by from the left, aimed, and… nothing. The rover's VI was completely convinced that all weapon systems were permanently overheated. Frustrated, the driver tried to run the Chief over, which required him to go behind the rock outcropping and away from the protection of the Grizzlies.

Sidestepping at the last second, Master Chief grabbed onto the side of the Mako facing away from Haliat's forces. While he used the Mako as a shield, Cortana overrode the lock on the door. The Chief swung in, snapped the driver's neck, and tossed the body out in one fluid motion. Now with possession of the Mako, the Chief recognized friendly signatures on radar. He smirked to himself before swerving dangerously to the left, making sure that Haliat's army kept their full attention on him.

* * *

_Agebinium_

_Surface_

_Elevated terrain_

"I'm on high ground with a sniper rifle," Garrus whispered. "It doesn't get any better than this."

"Holy hell," Kaidan murmured. "Is the Chief always this ballsy?"

Cole chuckled quietly. "No. Sometimes he does something really insane." The conduit got to his feet and began to crackle with lightning. "Kaidan, be ready to lay down a barrier. Garrus, let's see who can drop more of these scumbags."

Garrus snickered. "No offense Cole, but I think I've got the advantage this-"

**ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!**

In the span of a second, Cole used his time-dilating precision bolts to fry three of the unsuspecting pirates. Not one to be shown up, the turain agent fired into the pirate horde. Each pull of the trigger resulted in a headshot. "Scoped and dropped!" Garrus yelled.

The Grizzlies slowly rotated their turrets to face the dueling snipers, but their shots were blocked as Kaidan biotically lifted a group of crates in front of the giant guns. Cole stopped attacking the pirates and focused on the tanks.

Agebinium had the wrong atmosphere for a lightning storm, but that wasn't a problem. Cole could make it happen anyway. Raising his arms above his head, the conduit of lightning brought his wrath down on the pair of tanks, completely obliterating them with punishing torrents of lightning from the sky. Not stopping there, he directed the lightning storm at the scattering mercs as well, frying them by the dozen. Soon, Cole was utterly exhausted now, but it didn't matter. In all the chaos, Garrus was still scoring headshots, Kaidan was wreaking havoc with his biotics, and the Chief drove up, jumped out of the Mako and unleashed hell on Haliat's remaining forces.

When the shooting finally stopped, only Haliat remained alive, albeit with a broken leg from Cole's devastation. He was raving and ranting, but otherwise harmless. Cole staggered away from the instigator of the Blitz and radioed the _Normandy_.

Five minutes later, their ship arrived to pick up the Mako and drop off Alex Mercer. Before doing anything, he yelled, "Is the probe disabled?" They all nodded, and the virus grinned sadistically. "Good."

Without another word, the ultimate predator walked over to Haliat, picked him up off the ground, and punched a hole in the warlord's chest, consuming the owner of Haliat Armory. Cole looked at him expectantly, and Alex gave him the thumbs up.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Leaving Agebinium_

In the form of Elanos Haliat, Alex Mercer had opened up a secure line with the turian's account managers. He gave them the necessary account information, so he was clear to do as he pleased with all the money, resources, and assets at Haliat's disposal.

The volus on the other end was stunned for a moment. "Forgive me, Mr. Haliat. But you would like to withdraw _how much_?"

In the form of a turian, all Alex could do was flare his mandibles, but inside, he was grinning like a maniac. "All of it."

* * *

**Hahahahahaha! Now do you see why I needed Elanos Haliat to be the turian in charge of Haliat Armory? I wanted more action, but it was such an anticlimactic fight in the game that I didn't know how far to push it. But I do have a gift for you all. I present to you a sneak peak at an early chapter of the sequel, **_**Supernovas of Mass Effect: One Way Flight**_**. **

**Be warned****, there are spoilers through Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 1 and 2, and the comic, **_**Mass Effect: Redemption.**_

* * *

_2173, Alchera_

_Surface team_

_Fifteen days since destruction of the _Normandy

_The dozen mercenaries slowly but surely traversed the icy surface of Alchera. This was probably the easiest job they'd ever get, and it was going to make them bloody rich. The Shadow Broker had hired them all to recover the corpse of the infamous Commander Ryan from the _Normandy's_ crash site. They didn't know what anyone wanted with the freak's dead body, but they didn't care. They were motivated by money and the desire to mock the remains of the legendary Torfan Tactician who had been a thorn in their side since day one._

"_Aket, you copy?" one of the greener mercs radioed in. _

_Aket, the captain of this group, rolled his four eyes. "What is it human?"_

"_I saw something __**move**__."_

_Aket sighed. He didn't have time for this. "I'm not holding your hand, so if you see it again, just shoot it." Stupid humans._

_The rest of the journey was uneventful, and they reached the corpse with no trouble. There was only one problem:_

_It was encased in ice, and any parts of the body that hadn't been wrecked in the crash were perfectly preserved._

_Aket yelled in frustration. "Get the airship down here. We brought digging equipment, right? We'll just have to carve the bastard out of the ice."_

_Twenty minutes later, their airship arrived loaded with excavation gear. Aket barked orders and the mercs approached the frozen corpse with their tools. The closest one was inches from digging into the ice when the ground began to quake and a sharp noise split the sky._

_**EEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIAH!**_

_The sound came from almost everywhere at once, so nobody knew where to aim. Naturally, they formed a defensive ring around their location, covering all directions at the cost of focusing on a single one._

_The human merc from earlier was flipping out. "Shit! I told you. I told you I heard something. I told you and you didn't believe me!" Aket was about to shoot him, but he never got the chance. The ice beneath the human's feet split wide open swallowing the poor bastard, along with two more veteran mercs on the squad._

_Aket backed away from the crevice and screamed to the airship. "Take off, dammit! We need a view from the sky now!"_

_**THUNK! THUNK!**_

_Two more of his men were now dead, both with massive shards of ice lodged in their abdomens. Whatever this was, it played for keeps. The pilot alerted them to movement on the right, which then was replaced with a sighting on the left, then sixty yards back… then nothing anywhere._

"_Are you on red sand up there?" One of the turian mercs yelled. "Either you saw movement or you didn't, but nothing vanishes into thin- aahhg!"_

_The merc never got to finish, as he was interrupted by a deadly ball of fire. In Alchera's atmosphere of methane and ammonia, fire was nobody's friend. The same fate awaited three more of the mercs, each miniature inferno coming from a completely different angle. Were they surrounded? Something about this reminded Aket of the rumors of Commander Ryan. But that was impossible, Ryan was right there, frozen in ice!_

_Aket signaled for the airship to get the three surviving mercs an evac. This wasn't worth dying over. Their ride had barely descended twenty meters when a lithe figure dressed in strange exo-suit materialized right on top of it. Aket saw a sinister rod on their aggressor's left arm shatter the airship's front window, killing the pilot. Now out of control, the airship spiraled down into the remnants of his squad._

_Aket pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the frozen remains of Commander Ryan. "You're protecting this guy's corpse, ain't you?" he shouted, looking around because he couldn't see the hostile anywhere. "Well, what'll you do now? Let me live, or I swear I'll pull the trigger!" For thirty seconds, nothing happened, so Aket tried again. "I can't make a deal with someone who won't talk. I'm here for Ryan, but I ain't dying over a corpse. Tell me what's so important about the broken body of a hero!"_

_Aket caught a flash of purple in his peripheral vision, but it wasn't enough to save him. The gun was ripped from his hand, and he was lifted off the ground. He thought that the purple flash had been biotics, but when he looked at the source of all his current problems he didn't see the telltale glow. Instead he saw something __**much**__ worse._

_Standing before him with its right hand outstretched was a slender figure that vaguely resembled a human. But the exo-suit it was wearing was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It alternated between white fabric and grey metal. Up and down the legs were countless straps and belts, for what purpose, Aket couldn't begin to imagine. There were hooks along the back of the right arm. Attached to the left arm was that sinister rod, only at this range, it looked more like a giant needle. The worst part about this… thing's outfit was the helmet._

_Instead of staring at a mask, Aket was met with the unforgiving glare of a spherical grey helmet with a single red light shining from inside._

_A woman's voice resonated from within that crazy helmet. "I'm not here for the corpse of a hero. I'm here for the corpse of my __**foster brother**__!"_

_That was the thing Aket heard before she raised the giant needle and rammed it through his head._

_While Rapture had turned both of them into brutal fighters, Eleanor Lamb was always the more patient one. While news of her "brother's" death had come as a complete shock, she knew that his death was likely an easy fix. She also knew that Ryan had encased himself in ice during his final moments alive just for this reason._

_Thus, Eleanor would continue to guard over his preserved remains until an opportunity presented itself. In Rapture, she had orchestrated the rebirth of her "father" Subject Delta, and that was all from the confines of Persephone. Here, she would do the same thing for her brother._

_Alex Mercer and Cole MacGrath would find what she needed. Of that, Eleanor was quite sure._

**Read, review, and enjoy!**


	18. Cold Day in Corporate Hell

**Well, I'm officially on break. For a while, I'll be increasing the rate at which I post chapters for you all. Now, I have a couple of announcements:**

**First, since nobody flamed me over making Haliat a turian, I guess I managed to avoid pissing anyone off. From what I've learned over the years, no news is generally good news. I do apologize for taking liberties like that, but it was necessary for Haliat Armory to be run by Elanos Haliat, and not just to take the company's credits. You'll see what I mean in this chapter.**

**Second, let's address the way-in-the-future Cole pairing. It's currently a 3-3 tie between Kasumi and Jack, but only because some voters chose both, and the other two possibilities have no votes. If somebody could explain it to me, I'd try and make it a proper poll instead.**

**Last, I've been accused of making Cole a bit too dark. I haven't made him seem like a great guy, sure, but there's a reason for that. I've mentioned past jobs, and it's meant to show that Cole has been through a **_**lot**_** in his time as a Supernova. Normally, he's a regular paragon, but Ryan brings out the worst in Cole, and with good reason. I'll keep you all wondering on that one for now, but the point is, Cole isn't being a jerk. He's just holding a grudge. In fact, read this chapter, and you'll see Cole's nicer side.**

**Speaking of which, we pick up some time after the last chapter's ending, and the **_**Normandy**_** is on approach to Noveria. Lots of fun ensues. There is plenty of action in this chapter, by the way, it's just in the second half.**

**Spoilers Warning: Spoilers for Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype, Halo series excluding Halo 4, Bioshock series, Assassin's Creed, KotOR II and the Fallout series. There are also a couple non-spoiler references to various media that have snow and/or corrupt corporations, and a Fate/Stay Night reference. Finally, while not a spoiler, there's one South Park reference that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to use.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you see on this page. I'm good, but not **_**that**_** good.**

* * *

Cold Day in Corporate Hell

_Two weeks since Haliat mission_

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_En route to Noveria_

"And when that station blew… there was nothing left bigger than a turian's right nut," Wrex recalled, finally telling Alex his asari commando story. Alex grinned at the thought of such destruction. Cole, who showed up to hear this tale, just stood there slack-jawed. Wrex grinned. "So, I went back to the diplomat to give him the good news and collect my pay. But before I got halfway there… _Aleena_ sent me a message: 'Better luck next time.'" When they realized he was serious, Alex and Cole simply gawked. "Now, I'm not superstitious. But if somebody manages to survive that, they deserve to live. At least for a little while longer."

"Holy. Shit." Cole murmured. "I thought you didn't leave jobs half done?"

Wrex looked absurdly smug. "I told the volus the truth. Aleena was alive and she was _pissed_. If he wanted to stay alive, he'd need me protecting him. He kept me on as his personal guard until the day he died." Seeing their next question, Wrex quickly added, "Natural causes. It was the easiest job I ever had. A little boring, maybe, but credits are credits."

Alex just smirked. They'd obviously done crazier jobs for the Uniques, but for a regular mercenary, albeit a krogan one, that was a hell of a story. Sooner or later, he would have to let Wrex know how good he really was. While the rest of the squad was comprised of Nova-class fighters, Wrex and Garrus were different. Like Saren, they were both Supernova-class.

Supernovas local to a Unique's territory had two fates: they were either an enemy to defeat, or they were destined for great things. It wasn't prophecy; it was simply pattern recognition. They'd seen it happen plenty of times on Retronuke Earth. The Enclave had deployed Frank Horrigan, a Supernova, to somehow stop Alex, and the fight was a brutal one. On another job, Legate Lanius opposed Cole in the Battle for Hoover Dam. For the flip side, Craig Boone, Joshua Graham, and Ulysses were three of the toughest mortal men that Cole had fought alongside, and he even doubted the mortality of the latter two.

The question was: what the hell did fate have in store for an old krogan battlemaster and a failed C-Sec agent?

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_Entering Pax System_

Ryan sighed for the eleventh time in the past half hour as he looked over the datapads. From what he could tell, Noveria was a successful version of Rapture, but it was no less corrupt. External meddling wasn't tolerated, the research was mostly illegal, the corporate espionage was rampant, and morals took a backseat to money.

According to the Council, the geth had some kind of interest in the icy colony, but not one that warranted burning the planet. Unfortunately, the similarities between Rapture and Noveria were thoroughly overwhelming to the Splicer King. Ryan would be over this discomfort in a matter of hours, but it was time that they couldn't waste. So he had elected to let Cole take point while he sifted through the mess of paperwork that Udina seemed to enjoy sending them. The Chief's imposing figure would cause more problems with local bureaucracy than it would solve, and anything Cortana did, even undetected, would likely get them kicked right off the colony. Still, Ryan was optimistic. These past two weeks, they hadn't been idle.

Ever since Alex had "acquired" everything belonging to Haliat, they did more than buy fancy gear for the squad. The mercenaries at Haliat's disposal were sent on some of the odd jobs that had been piling up since his induction into the Spectres, and the information he had on the Terminus systems was used to help complete the others.

The first week, their mercenaries had taken down the slave trade of one Dahlia Dantius, which they used as leverage to quietly force her sister, Nassana, off the Citadel. She had tried to play coy, but it took Alex all of five seconds to "convince" her to leave. Unfortunately, word had finally gotten out that Haliat had been dead all this time, so Alex made some calls and strong-armed the remnants of Haliat's private army into Aria's possession. He knew that staying in her good graces would pay off, he just didn't know when.

Three days later, while the mercs were looking the fate of a ship called the _Majesty_ for a human on the Citadel, the _Normandy_ team investigated a missing survey team. Ryan and Alex led Wrex, Tali, and Liara onto the surface of Trebin, where they discovered all of the people on the team had devolved into machine cultists. Their backs were to the wall as they fought off wave after wave of husks. Something about the whole place had unsettled Ryan. Why were there husks but no geth? If the geth weren't even involved, where did the Dragon's Teeth equipment come from?

Their proudest achievement was a full-team effort however. A known crime lord named Helena Blake had approached them in hopes that they would kill her former accomplices, leaving the organization in her hands. Supposedly, she wanted to direct the gang in a more favorable direction, and her ex-partners had soiled their reputation by including slavery and red sand in their activities. Ryan wasn't going to kill her, but he would certainly prove a point. While he led Chief, Tali, Garrus, and Kaidan to kill one boss, Cole led Alex, Liara, Wrex, and Ashley to take out the other. Finally, in a united effort, they all assaulted Blake's main fortress, taking great care to ensure the survival of the last crime lord. With her syndicate in ruins, Blake was forced to agree to a more honest line of work. Time would tell if she actually kept her word.

That had been the turning point. No longer were they a group of talented individuals. They were a well-coordinated strike team that could safely put their lives in each other's hands. The racial tensions were down, and best of all, they finally had a possible lead on Saren.

Ryan just hoped that Cole knew what he was doing. Sending Alex to the greedy corporate world was like having a civil conversation with a splicer: A bad idea that ends in somebody's death.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_Noveria Approach_

Joker became all business as he opened a comm. line to the colony's officials. "Approach Control, this is _SSV Normandy_, requesting a vector and a berth."

Cole stood behind the pilot, listening in. He hadn't dealt with bureaucracy since the New Vegas job, but it was always a pain in the ass. Spectres were barely tolerated on Noveria, so the electric man needed to know whether or not to expect a cold reception (pun intended).

"_Normandy_, your arrival is not scheduled," said Approach Control. "Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."

Joker rolled his eyes at the demand. They asked for it. "Citadel business. We've got a Council Spectre aboard."

There was a pause before they responded. "Landing access granted… _Normandy_." The disdain in their voice was clear, but Cole ignored it. He didn't care about any dirty little secrets unless they pointed him towards Saren. As the _Normandy _pulled into dock, the official continued. "Be advised, we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel _will be impounded_." These last words were said with an unexpected amount of venom. Frankly, Cole was glad that Noveria was widely known for its illegal research. Better to have it done in one place that people know about than dozens of hidden locations across the galaxy.

"What a _fun_ bunch" Joker chirped, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I think I'll take my next leave here." Cole laughed at his pilot's dry wit as he exited the ship, Wrex and Garrus following close behind.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Port Hanshan_

_Security Checkpoint_

"That's far enough," a Japanese officer instructed. Cole should have realized that Elanus Risk Control Services would send their people to welcome him. He had known they ran the security show here, and he wasn't expecting the red carpet, but saving Noveria from a possible geth threat would be hard if he had ERCS breathing down his neck.

Forcing a smile, Cole tried diplomacy. "Can I help you with something, miss…?"

"Keep dreaming," muttered a blond woman on the right. Cole rolled his eyes.

The Japanese officer ignored her subordinate's unprofessional behavior. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo of ERCS, and this is an unscheduled arrival. I need credentials."

Maintaining a casual posture, Cole grinned. "Cole MacGrath, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

Again, the blond threw in her unwelcome opinion. "That's horsecrap. No way is some little punk like you a Spectre."

Clearly the voice of reason, Matsuo spoke in a calm voice. "We'll need to confirm that claim." Cole shrugged. He wasn't going anywhere. "Also, I must inform you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria." She turned to the mouthy blond. "Sergeant Stirling, secure their weap-"

Matsuo never finished her order. Cole didn't need conventional weaponry, but he wasn't about to lead an unarmed squad to investigate geth interests. He signaled for Wrex and Garrus to draw their guns and dropped into a defensive posture. The conduit didn't show any electricity, realizing that if they didn't know he was a Spectre, then they had no idea what he could do. A surprise like that could come in handy.

Garrus was the first to speak. "Citadel authority supersedes yours," The ex-cop just pulled rank on an entire planet, and it felt awesome. This was why he had wanted to come along.

Cole just kept grinning. "I thought you said that firearms weren't permitted on Noveria? Aren't you the hypocrite?"

Sergeant Stirling glared at him. "Says the man without a gun."

Cole cracked his knuckles. "I'm done playing nice, Blondie. Drop the shotgun, or I'll drop you."

Luckily, a voice on the loudspeakers ended the standoff. "Captain Matsuo, stand down!" The Captain followed the order with perfect discipline. Her compatriots were a bit more hesitant, but they relented as well. The voice continued. "We confirmed their identity. There's even another human Spectre still on that ship." This got Matsuo's full attention, and even Stirling raised an eyebrow. "Spectres _are_ authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."

Embarrassed, Matsuo turned to face Cole. "You may proceed, Spectre. I hope that the rest of your visit will be less confrontational." She gestured towards the entrance. "Parasini-san will meet you upstairs." The use of honorifics caught Cole off guard. He hadn't heard that since the last time he had spoken with one of the Heroic Spirits.

While nobody could attack Halla, the idea of a rogue Supernova was enough to warrant an elite guard for the Uniques and Solara itself. They had to be far superior to the Supernovas sent out on jobs. The first – and only – attack from within had generated such a devastating response that it coined the phrase "There's Supernovas, and then there's Gilgamesh." Cole could only guess at their real ethnic background, but they had always addressed him as "Conduit-san" at any briefings that included both parties.

"Behave yourself," Sterling grumbled, disappointed that she didn't get to shoot anyone.

Cole didn't bother responding. He just motioned for the two aliens to follow him into Port Hanshan. They hadn't even made it to the stairs when they were stopped again by a woman in red that Cole guessed was Parasini. "Hold up! If you go any further before we deactivate the weapon sensors, you'll set the place on high alert for no reason." She hit a few keys on a console, and then motioned for them to proceed. "Sorry about that little incident in the docking bay. I'm Gianna Parasini."

Cole eyed her carefully. He had improved enough since Empire City to recognize undercover agents. Parasini wasn't fooling him for a second. Still, anyone undercover in a corrupt society was likely one of the good guys, so Cole played along for now. "I'm just glad you managed to spare your security chief an embarrassing beatdown. Can't say the same for her sergeant."

Parasini looked nonplussed. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from any violence within Port Hanshan, Spectre. It'll cause an investor panic, and while you may not care about that, I certainly do."

Cole held up his hands in an "I yield" gesture. "I don't want to rock the boat any more than necessary. If we can work together, maybe I can find what I'm looking for and you can maintain the status quo."

Parasini thought for a moment before nodding. "If you can try and keep a low profile, I'll see what I can do to help." Cole gave a small smile. One thing that he and Ryan had actually agreed on was maintaining a limited body count when possible. Killing the opposition was a fine solution, but the best results usually came with the fewest unnecessary casualties. Unfortunately, when the Uniques sent Ryan on shadow jobs, that nice sentiment got tossed right out the window. Cole knew why, and that's why he didn't completely blame the Splicer King for all of his actions, but they called Ryan the "Rapture Raptor" for a _very_ good reason.

Blinking away that morbid train of thought, Cole returned to the situation at hand. "Well, since you're in a helping mood, can you tell me if anyone… weird has come by recently?"

"I'm not sure what qualifies as 'weird' in your line of work, MacGrath," Parasini said with mild humor. "But an asari Matriarch did pass through not too long ago. Lady Benezia. She headed out to the Peak 15 research lab a couple of days ago."

This caught the whole squad's attention. "There you have it," Wrex growled.

Reaching for his comm. link, Cole contacted the _Normandy_. "Joker, patch me through to Ryan."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Med Bay back room_

_Docked in Port Hanshan_

Liara shifted uncomfortably under Alex Mercer's amused gaze. Despite how poorly their last conversation went, he had returned to speak more with her. Finally, he spoke up. "So you're saying that our short lifespan makes us determined and fierce?" She nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going now. Alex chuckled. "Liara, for all intents and purposes, I'm immortal, yet I still have all those qualities that make humanity look like a "bully" in the eyes of the galaxy." His tone sounded almost self-loathing. "If I've got all the time in the universe, why am I always on the move?"

Liara thought hard about this for a moment. She needed to choose her words carefully, and not just for her own sake. "I think it is because you have the most opportunity to prove the value of humanity." This earned her a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps you are not the Spectre, and maybe you do not consider yourself human, but every time you cheat death, you show humanity's indomitable will. One thing that I have learned about humans is that when someone tells them 'no,' they push that much harder to succeed. You represent that trait perfectly, and your indefinite lifespan will let you remind the galaxy of your species' worth for longer than anyone else." Alex seemed amused by the idealism, but he smiled and nodded in agreement all the same. "Besides, I would think that the merits of tenacity can be best seen in the man that stood firm against an angry horde of thresher maws."

Realizing what she had said, Liara's eyes widened, and she clasped a hand over her mouth. The predator in front of her tensed ever-so-slightly. "Where did you hear about that?" he asked.

Looking at the floor in shame, the asari archaeologist sighed. "I confess, after our last discussion, I wanted to learn more about you. I had originally wanted to know more about your past, but the few articles that exist circle around your crowning achievement on Akuze."

Alex cocked his head to the side. This conversation was getting _very_ interesting. "Why were you digging up my past? That was long before I came in contact with the Prothean beacon."

Again, the asari shifted awkwardly. Sighing, Liara began to speak. "I do not know, Alex. There is something very intriguing about you. You are more vicious than the krogan, smarter than the salarians, and you have accumulated more knowledge than the asari Matriarchs in a fraction of the time."

By this point, the doctor's face was flushed a darker blue than normal. This kind of a confession wasn't normal for Liara. "My initial interest stemmed from your interaction with the Prothean beacon, I will admit, but something since then has changed. I am rambling now, but the point is-"

The door opened, revealing a very apologetic Commander Ryan. Alex was about to toss the Splicer King out into the hall with the man's own combat hooks but then he saw something in the Ryan's eyes that he'd never witnessed before: Conflict. Whatever he had to say, it was important, and it was tough.

The virus decided to end the awkward silence that had developed. "Spit it out, Ryan!"

Sighing, the Rapture Raptor looked right at Liara and said, "Your mother is here. What you do with that information is entirely up to you."

The young asari's expression became harder than the ice that coated Noveria. "Then I am coming along. I want answers, and I will not rest until Benezia gives them to me."

Alex deliberated for a moment. "I'm coming too." Liara turned to look at the apex hunter. He held her gaze. "You want answers, but I just want to know why Benezia wasn't pulling her own daughter out of the lava instead of me. I know that look on your face. It's the same one I had when I 'wanted answers' a long time ago." At that last statement, he nodded at Ryan. In his own way, one thing the Splicer King understood was family… and patricide.

Ryan grunted. "Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. We don't have access to her current location, but Cole is working on it. I'm on my way to go help him now. Wait for us in the hotel lounge, and we'll send you on your way. I won't be much help after that though. Udina's on my ass about the whole Haliat identity theft. It was clearly the most pragmatic choice, but explaining that to a politician is total hell. He's 'punishing' me with every scrap of paperwork he can find that involves Haliat." With a silent plea for Cortana's help, the Commander's body shattered right out of existence as he teleported to Cole's rendezvous point.

Alex looked at Liara. He realized she needed some kind of support at the moment so he played the part. "You know, this technically qualifies as 'meet the parents' in human culture. It's too bad I didn't bring a nicer set of clothes."

Liara looked at the Supernova with utter disbelief. After a moment, it hit her that Alex was joking, and she laughed softly. "Thank you Alex. I'm very glad that you trust me." Standing aside, Alex let Liara make her way for the armory. Almost reluctantly, he altered his course to see if he could convince Cortana to take over that paperwork.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Port Hanshan_

_Main Plaza_

Cole was beyond livid. Administrator Anoleis had not only been utterly useless, it seemed like the amphibious prick was doing it on purpose. After their meeting, it had become known that so much as speaking with him was grounds for any employee's termination. Complete bullshit. He also couldn't believe that he, a Spectre, was getting the evil eye for his comrades' guns, but simply because Benezia was a shareholder, she could bring a small army of highly trained telekinetic warriors through with no scrutiny at all. At least they caught a break with Lorik Qui'in. The turian was in this to cover his own ass, but it would get them what they needed to leave for Peak 15.

At this moment, the telltale sound of a Houdini plasmid let Cole know that his partner for this job had arrived. "What's the plan?" Ryan inquired.

Cole chuckled. "Good question. Our friend Qui'in has asked us to keep the bloodstains off the carpet." The expression on the Splicer King's face was _priceless_. "Normally I wouldn't give a damn, but I think it's an excellent opportunity for you to learn the meaning of 'nonlethal takedown.' So, I've loaded Wrex and Garrus with concussive rounds, and we're all going to raid Synthetic Insights without a single death."

Ryan scoffed. "You can't be serious. We don't have that kind of time."

Cole didn't back down. "Have you ever noticed that my enemies only die when I strike with killer intent? The power behind each bolt of lightning and the force behind every shockwave completely depends on whether I want to kill or incapacitate. You may not have it quite as easy, but if you don't truly need to take a bloodbath, then change the tactics. These guys are dirty cops, and they're being paid under the table, but dishonoring the uniform means that we turn them over to Captain Matsuo, no kill them. See if you can do that. Don't worry about them getting back up. I've got that covered." Conversation finished, Cole stepped into the elevator with Ryan and motioned for Wrex and Garrus to join them. When the doors closed and the thing began to move, Cole laughed. "Well, wonders never cease! It's a _fast moving elevator_!"

* * *

_Noveria_

_Port Hanshan_

_Synthetic Insights Offices_

The moment the doors opened, two ERCS guards had guns trained on them. "Freeze!" the human woman ordered. "Hanshan security. This office is sealed."

On instinct, Ryan brought out his hooks. Behind him, the Commander heard Cole clear his throat, insisting on another method. Ryan sighed. "Can I assume you know who we are?" They were going to be implicated by Qui'in's evidence, but they didn't really have to die protecting it.

The woman spoke again. "You two are the Spectres, yeah? Lorik Qui'in is under investigation."

Their reason for staying was weak at best. "If you know who we are, then you should know that your life is at my whim. My associate believes that you don't deserve to be burnt to a cinder, but I just might want to get a fire going in this cold weather…"

The dirty cop paled. "Y-you're bluffing."

Wrex smirked. "You're right. They're actually planning to let me eat you." He said this as if it were the most normal thing in the galaxy.

Cole stepped to the side. "If you want out, now would be a _very_ good time to find a new job." The woman and the turian guard next to her were tripping over each other trying to get out of the building. Cole cracked his neck. "That's two down, and over a dozen to go. Nice work, Ryan. Now scatter!" With that, the conduit spark-stepped out of sight.

The room became a blaze of action as the remaining ERCS guards opened fire without hesitation. Without any concussive rounds of his own, Ryan had to get creative. He put his hooks away and fired up two different plasmids. Sonic Boom in his right hand, and Cyclone Trap in his left. Using one to knock guards into the air, he would blast them into the wall with the other. The task was tiresome. These techniques required constant focus, which was difficult to maintain while being shot at.

Luckily Garrus seemed to always have his back. Despite relying on a sniper rifle with a low rate of fire, nobody could get close to Ryan without getting a concussive slug from the turian that knocked them on their ass. At one point, they tried flanking Garrus, only for Wrex to biotically suspend them in the air, which made easy targets for former C-Sec agent and Splicer King alike.

The corrupt group of ERCS's biggest mistake was thinking that the krogan was the biggest threat in the room. Not only did it mean that they all got smacked down by an angry krogan, but it made them forget that the other people in the room were even there until it was too late. While Wrex simply tanked the fire of six guards, knocking three of them to the ground with a spread of concussive pellets, Ryan materialized behind the other three. In a quick display of hidden brute strength, the Rapture Raptor grabbed two of them by the helmets, picked them off the ground effortlessly, and tossed one over each shoulder. Dodging a frantic shot from the last of the guards, Ryan looped his arms around the poor bastard's waist and suplexed him into the ground.

This whole time, Cole had not been inactive. Whenever the other three managed to put somebody on the ground, the conduit spark-stepped directly up to the downed guards, and pinned them to the floor with an arc restraint. If they were already on their feet, he tossed a shock grenade that had the extra effect of arc-restraining weakened targets caught in the explosion. "I've always wanted to arrest a cop on the take!" he yelled as they finished up.

Ryan laughed. He had actually enjoyed the added bonus of keeping his enemies down but not dead. Next time, he would try it without Cole's help. The conduit had promised to teach him, and he was following through.

"So Cole," Ryan began as they made their way towards Qui'in's terminal. "What do you plan on doing with these guys now that we've caught them?"

Cole chuckled. "I forgot. You weren't there when I talked to Qui'in. The guy was way too apathetic to actually do real good." He started the download. "But when these guys spill their guts, Anoleis is finished." Ryan was impressed with his partner's foresight on the matter. Clearly Cole had put a lot of thought into this. "There! The download's finished."

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

A series of shotgun blasts echoed across the walls of the building. Garrus put a talon to his visor. "Looks like another squad has arrived. I'm not getting any lifesigns from our prisoners, Cole."

Wrex growled. "Somebody's come to clean house."

Cole shut his eyes and reached out with his radar pulse. Only one of the neural signals was familiar. He swore. "Stirling. I should have guessed. She's on Anoleis's payroll too, and she's keeping the ones we've taken down from talking. Permanently." He turned to Ryan. "I'm calling grudge match rights on this one. Teleport out of here with the data and Garrus, and get me that garage pass. Then wait for us with Alex and Liara in the hotel lounge. Wrex and I will be along soon enough."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "After all of this, you're just going to beat her into the stone?"

Sparks were running up and down Cole's arms, crackling viciously. "I spared them, and I didn't even know them. She's executing them for being caught, and she _worked_ with them! The plan's the same, but I'm adding a little karma into the mix. Now go!" Ryan hesitated, but he finally took the data, grabbed Garrus' shoulder, and sent them both hurtling through space and time. Cole extinguished the current, and beckoned for Wrex to follow.

Waltzing right down the hall, he pretended that Sergeant Sterling didn't even exist for the longest time. Finally, she demanded his attention. "I don't think you're supposed to be in here, MacGrath."

Cole just smirked. "What seems to be the officer, problem?" (**A/N: My cousin watched this episode of South Park on Hulu, and my brain nagged at me until I used the line.**)

"Cute," she droned. "It seems you've killed the upstanding members of ERCS here after binding them to the floor." She accused him of her handiwork with such disgusting casualness. "Anoleis would have you thrown off-world for that, but I won't. You wanna know what we do to cop-killers where I'm from?"

Wrex sneered. "You're breaking the law for bribe money, kid. You want to know what krogan do to dirty cops back on Tuchanka?"

Stirling just rolled her eyes, put away her shotgun, and flared her biotics. "I don't think so. Hell, I don't even need a _gun_ to rip you to pieces."

Cole cackled at the irony. "What a coincidence." He clenched his fists and let the lightning stream across his entire body. "Neither do I."

Tossing up a polarity wall to block people who _were_ using guns, Cole focused all of his attention on Stirling. She launched a biotic throw at him, but he met it halfway with a rocket. The complete inverse of the incident on Eden Prime, the explosion shook kicked up too much dust for the guards or Stirling to see anything. Cole grabbed her with a lightning tether and yanked her towards him, leaving the rest of the sorry lot to face a pissed off krogan.

Grabbing Stirling by the collar or her armor, he hit her with a one-handed shockwave, sending her flying over the second floor's railing. She crashed to the ground below, breaking a couple of ribs, but didn't have time to get up before Cole hit the floor with a thunder-drop five feet away. The blast knocked her back into the air where he grabbed her by the ankle and slammed her into the ground a second time. Her armor was cracked in several places, and there was no way she could try another biotic attack.

Kneeling over his beaten foe, Cole gave her an electric smack. "You're going to testify."

Barely able to control her spasming muscles at this point, Stirling spit a wad of blood at him. "Go to hell!"

Cole grabbed her by the hair and streamed a moderate charge of lightning through her system. "You're going to _testify_!" he screamed.

"Okay! Okay! Just make it stop!" Stirling pleaded. Instantly, the pain was replaced by a soothing current that made the feeling return to her body. Her muscles stopped twitching too, but she could hardly stay awake at this point.

Cole glared down at her, and said softly. "You're not doing this because I made the pain stop. You're doing this because you dishonored the uniform and killed your own brothers in arms. I take no pleasure in torture, but you forced me to beat some sense into you before I could get you to listen." He turned away from her and shouted, "Wrex? We all good?" She didn't hear any response but obviously the krogan had said something, because the next thing she knew, Stirling was being dragged by the electric man out of Synthetic Insights.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Port Hanshan_

_Main Plaza_

_Administrative Assistant Office_

Parasini couldn't believe this. She had been standing at the only way in or out of the Synthetic Insights offices, yet somehow they'd gotten by her and handed over the data to Qui'in in exchange for a garage pass. He best shot at taking down Anoleis had somehow gone right past her! She was now back at her desk trying to think of a way to salvage the whole mess, when the door opened and the electro-Spectre, Cole MacGrath walked in, dragging a barely conscious Sergeant Stirling behind him. "Holy crap, MacGrath! What did you-" She realized too late that her natural accent had slipped out in her surprise. "Um… What seems to be the… Okay, I've got nothing. Cole, please tell me that you're as good as they say, and you have some kind of plan here?"

Cole dumped Stirling unceremoniously on the floor. "Nothing to worry about, Italy. My plan was to have about twenty people ready to talk, but Stirling decided to silence my detainees. Fortunately for you, she's 'decided' to testify, and six more are out cold in the Synthetic Insights offices. We've taken care of the bodies as a goodwill gesture. Out of curiosity, exactly who are you undercover for?"

Fully relieved that she would be out of the damn dress and heels soon, Parasini brought up her omni-tool and displayed her credentials. "Gianna Parasini. Noveria Internal Affairs. I have an arrest to make, and you have a Matriarch to catch, but I owe you and Commander Ryan a beer sometime."

"You know," Cole said to Wrex as they left Parasini to bring Anoleis to justice. "I'm starting to like this job."

"Keep liking it," the massive krogan bellowed. "I'm counting on you guys to find me things to shoot." Cole just laughed.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Port Hanshan_

_Garage Access_

Ryan sighed. "Joker's bringing the Mako around to the garage as we speak. It should be waiting for you all when you get there. This is where we part ways though. The paperwork is getting done more quickly (thank you Alex), but some of it needs Spectre authorization in the form of a handprint. Keep in contact as best you can. Peak 15 sounds like trouble." Reluctantly, Ryan teleported back to the ship.

The moment they set foot in the garage, Cole's nerves went crazy. There was a lot of neuro-electric movement going on in the massive room, and that meant only one thing.

"We've got company!" he yelled as geth hoppers, juggernauts, shock troopers, and a destroyer swarmed the garage.

Liara quickly threw up a singularity, catching some of the hoppers and a shock trooper in the field. They made easy targets for Garrus' long range shots. Wrex had run straight for the juggernauts, biotic barrier up and shotgun thundering away. Alex lashed out at the hoppers with his whipfist, effortlessly carving their lightweight frames in half. The lack of lightning was starting to bother them all. Cole never hung back in a fight. Wrex spared a glance to see what the hell Cole's deal was, but a glance was all he needed.

Cole was crawling weakly towards the disabled Grizzly tank that was in the garage. He swore never to give Ryan a hard time about the geth hoppers again. He was immune to their cyberwarfare beams, but he had no idea that they were packing the same assassination shots as geth snipers. Now, with a clean puncture in the front and back of his right lung, Cole was desparate. The odds that his next stunt would actually _work_ were incredibly low, but with no other option, he would take his chances. Hobbling up to the Grizzly's massive cannon, he used a kinetic pulse to assume indirect control of its mass accelerator.

It was a good thing that Wrex had started yelling like a madman, or Alex would never have noticed the giant fuel tank right behind him. Rather than get caught in the explosion, time slowed down as Alex hoisted the makeshift explosive over his head and tossed towards the part of the garage where the Grizzly's cannon was pointed. The thing hadn't even left his fingertips, and he was already dashing for Liara. At this moment, Cole launched the shot.

_**KABOOOM**_

The detonation rocked the entire garage as everything against the far wall, including part of the far wall, was completely blown to bits. Liara opened her eyes see Alex standing over her, gasping for breath. A moment later, she noticed the giant pieces of burning scrap metal lodged in his back. He had prevented those from slamming into _her_. She flushed. "By the goddess, Alex. Y-you…"

Alex, now yanking the blackened metal shards out of his back, just sighed. "Injuries like this are a regular Tuesday for me, Blue." The nickname seemed to just come naturally. "The only difference is I'm not used to doing it for someone else." He paused for a moment, then grinned. "Normally, taking a lethal blow like that on another person's behalf is considered significant and touching. I feel like I've cheapened the notion with my inability to die."

Liara didn't know what to say, but again external forces interrupted the two of them. She became aware of frantic shouting coming from Wrex and Garrus, and several ERCS guards led by Captain Matsuo that had arrived to investigate the noise. They were all running for the garage exit, where Cole was slowly trudging towards the door that led outside into the horrific cold.

Alex turned around, saw what was going on, and instantly put two and two together. "Cole you crazy _bastard_!"

Cole could feel the sharp sting of frostbite pierce every nerve in his body. He endured it. It was no different than being on the receiving end of an attack from Vermaak 88's soldiers. "I hope this works," he groaned before throwing himself right off the frozen cliff. As he began to fall, Cole let the air friction turn into static charge, but instead of draining it, he used it to power a massive lightning storm. Which he brought down on himself as he fell into the canyon.

The plan was simple, but moderately insane. His mind remembered a life with and without the ice abilities that Lucy Kuo had transferred to him in New Marais. His body never really forgot. Genetic memory was powerful, as Desmond Miles would readily point out, and the old ice powers would return under the right conditions. Those conditions unfortunately dangerous. He basically needed a blizzard of this magnitude to freeze him half to death. Just as frying himself to reconnect the electrical flow in Empire City's substations had given him better electric powers, Cole was confident that something similar with ice would return his missing powers. Either that or it would kill him. But it was worth the risk. Even with his lightning, he felt like a limb was missing. This was the only chance he would get.

Every single cell in his body seemed to get shocked, burnt, and frozen all at the same time, and then the world went white.

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Recovery_

Kessler smirked at the prone figure of Cole MacGrath. He would have called it déjà vu, but he'd had quite enough of that for both of their lifetimes. Still, he said it for old times' sake. "Reactivation plus two minutes. Pulse is forty-five. Respiration, ten. Lookin' good, Cole."

"Not… funny, old… man…" Cole gasped out.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Aleutsk Valley_

_Level 1 Cold Hazard_

_Two minutes since Cole's stunt._

"Alex," Garrus began gently. "I know that Cole's impressive, but maybe we should-"

"Not yet." Alex said instantly. "Give him another four minutes. If he doesn't show up by then, you can call Ryan to tell him the SOB is dead."

The words had scarcely left his mouth when a lone figure came flying out of the depths of the valley. The humanoid silhouette hit the ground in the distance. Through his visor, Garrus could clearly see who it was, but he didn't believe it. "How in the Spirits…?"

The turian's question was answered as a stalagmite was generated beneath Cole's feet, propelling him back towards the squad that had taken refuge in the Mako. Generating another stalagmite upon landing, Cole balanced on it and hollered, "I'm back!"

* * *

**Yes! I've finally done it! So remember how in inFAMOUS, every time Cole re-established the current for a substation, he got a new lightning power? I wanted to do something similar to restore the ice powers. If you read that sneak peak of the Mars Mission in a previous chapter, you'll notice he used ice launch. This is why. Cole's back in action, and I'm just getting started. Soon Alex will learn some of the techniques used in Prototype 2 because they were pretty cool.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy! Next time I post, the action's at Peak 15.**


	19. Mercer's Game

**First, I want to say that I applaud anyone who can guess what the title of this chapter is a reference to.**

**Second, I would like to point out that I originally planned for this chapter to be longer, but then I split it into two. You'll get the end of the Noveria mission later this week.**

**Third, while not too gruesome, this chapter has Alex Mercer going nuts in the killing department. There is grievous bodily harm, impalement, stab wounds, dismemberment discussion of cold blooded murder, and basically Mercer being Mercer.**

**I want to make it clear before anyone get the wrong idea that Cole will **_**not**_** usually be this powerful. He is simply drawing on the snow and ice all around him as a source of power just like he does with sources of electricity. It's not a hard concept in theory, but implementing it in the inFAMOUS 2 game mechanics would have been **_**very**_** difficult.**

**Summary: Cole shows off his new talents. Peak 15 is a mess. Mira is annoying. Alex goes on a brief rampage. Oh, and Tali hates spiders.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype, and Bioshock 1, 2, and Infinite.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own squat.**

* * *

Mercer's Game

_Noveria_

_Aleutsk Valley_

"By the goddess," Liara whispered. She turned to Alex in the driver's seat of the Mako. "Is there anything you people can't do?"

"I agree," Garrus said. "Since when could Cole do anything with _ice_?"

Wrex already knew the truth, so he just sat there.

Alex laughed like a maniac. "Cole can gain new talents by applying deadly stress factors to his body. He's only ever tried it with electricity, but it looks like it works for ice too." He wasn't really lying. Alex had absolutely no idea that this would work, nor did he think his friend was stupid enough to try. Right now, he didn't even care that Cole had jeopardized their secret. He just was glad that Cole was alive and whole again. This was a mistake that needed to be corrected, and the crazy bastard had done it.

Cole, for his part, was doing his utmost to keep calm. He was back. He was complete again. The gift from Lucy Kuo was once again at his disposal. But it felt stronger this time, and he was pretty sure he knew why. This time, it was _much_ more than a transfer of twenty percent. Now it felt more like sixty. Lightning was still his forte, but ice had countless uses in the battlefield, from offensive, to defensive, to locomotive.

Hopping off the stalagmite, Cole opened his comm. "I'll race you guys there!"

Alex smirked before answering. "You're on, but watch out for more geth."

"In this terrain, you leave them to me," the conduit growled.

With that, Alex floored the accelerator, taking off for Peak 15. He was looking up, expecting Cole to ice launch right over the tank, but a blur of yellow and black shot past him on the left. Like the Vermaak 88 shotgun troopers back in New Marais, Cole was utilizing the ice-dash, an ability to enhance speed by generating a field of frost beneath his feet to half-skate, half-sprint towards his destination. This allowed him to outrun the Mako easily. "Ease up, Cole!" Alex warned his eager friend. "You'll drain yourself dry at this rate."

Cole just laughed. "Not anymore. I'm drawing on the ice around me. I'm a made man in this blizzard!"

Alex was shocked. If that was the case, then Cole's plan had worked better than expected. Refocusing on the driving, Alex called for a radar check. Garrus' news was unpleasant to say the least. "We've got armatures, shock troopers, and turrets up ahead!"

Cole laughed again, sounding happier than he had been in over two years. "I'll handle the mobiles, you can have the turrets." Rocketing into the sky with an ice launch, he used static thrusters to maintain altitude until he was right above the first group of shock troopers. At that point, he cut the thrusters and smashed into them with a devastating thunder drop. Any units that didn't immediately fry in the blast were blown apart by a shatterblast, a shockwave filled with rapidly generated spikes of ice for maximum damage output.

Already ice-dashing again, Cole didn't even bother looking at the turret built into the cliff for two reasons. First, he wasn't generating any detectable body heat for the turret to target. Second, the damn thing was about to-

**BOOM**

Explode. Alex may be a sociopathic killer, but he was somehow the safest Supernova to have behind to wheel. And the gun was working again too, even after Cortana's sabotage on Agebinium. It was supposed to take another week, but the turian was that damn good at calibrations.

Rounding the first bend in the valley, Cole barely had time to swear as an armature opened fire with both primary and secondary weapons. While he didn't know whether plasma could hurt him or not, Cole wasn't in any hurry to find out. Luckily, it was painfully slow, posing no threat to someone with his agility. The secondary machine gun, however, had a faster rate of fire than the Mako's. It also wrapped its slugs in phasic jackets that could easily pierce Cole's polarity wall.

Except Cole wasn't using a polarity wall to protect himself anymore. That ability was replaced by the frost shield, which Alex had once called, "the same damn thing, just colder and better." When he said "better" he meant _exponentially_ better. The armature's machine gun rounds were stopped dead by the barrier of mixed ice and lightning.

Keeping the shield up, Cole brought down a lightning storm that utterly wrecked the armature. Unfortunately, there was another one in the distance. Dropping his defense, Cole ice launched away from the machine gun fire, but the walking tank had calculated his trajectory, firing a siege pulse at the spot where he would land. Too bad for the mechanical quadruped, Cole could defy that trajectory by engaging his static thrusters. The pulse went wide, and Cole launched a fearsome cryo rocket into the geth's head, shutting down its primary armament.

Hitting the ground, years of parkour and urban exploration instinctively sent Cole into a landing roll. Coming out of the roll, he immediately fired off a second cryo rocket, followed by a third, taking down the armature for good.

* * *

"How does Cole already know what to do?" Garrus asked. "I'd have thought he'd need proper training to unleash all these new tricks."

Alex pondered this for a moment as Wrex scrapped yet another turret with the Mako's cannon. "I can't speak for Cole, but…" the virus raised his right hand in the air and shifted it into a claw, keeping his driving steady with his left. "This isn't the kind of thing that you _can_ learn in the conventional sense. Nobody told a thresher maw that it could spit acid and strike with infrasound. Nobody explained to the first asari how to meld minds. It's instinct, plain and simple." Again, it wasn't a total lie.

Cole had cleared the path to Peak 15 almost completely, so they made their way without further incident. Wrex even complained that Cole had stolen all the fun. Pulling the Mako to a stop outside the Peak 15 entrance garage, Alex and the other three stepped out into the cold. "Shit it's freezing out here." Alex hissed.

"Is it too late to mention that turians hate the cold?"

Cole looked at Garrus strangely as they walked inside. "You weren't complaining on Agebinium."

The turian sighed. "Yeah, that's because there was radiation on Agebinium."

Cole laughed as everyone stowed away their environmental helmets, which had been useful in the blizzard but would only hinder them inside the facility. "Well, you'll be feeling a _lot_ warmer if we can't solve this mess soon."

Alex tensed. "Cole… would you care to explain what that means?"

The conduit stopped laughing and paled. "Ryan didn't tell you did he?" Alex just glared. "Crap. Okay, here's the short version. There was some kind of 'containment failure' that Benezia allegedly came here to fix. Unfortunately, the breach was bad enough to trigger the facility's Code Omega. If that Code Omega isn't dealt with by the end of today, the Noveria executive board votes whether or not to hit this place with an antimatter warhead."

Alex sighed, held up a hand, and closed his eyes. "I'm not going to kill you. Ryan should have passed this detail onto me when I was on the _Normandy_. Still, you know I hate being around WMDs!"

Cole flared his lightning. "Then let's get to work. There are hostiles in the next room, so we'll start there."

Indeed there were hostiles. A juggernaut, a destroyer, a shock trooper, and some kind of drone. Cole lobbed a pair of shock grenades at the synthetic soldiers, frying the shock trooper and blowing away the shields on the heavier units. Garrus targeted the destroyer's "head" and pulled the trigger.

His shot was stopped dead by kinetic barriers that shouldn't have been close to recharging. Garrus looked around wildly for a cause, and saw that the drone was a repair unit. Readjusting his aim, he blew a hole straight through the little bastard.

Tanking rockets and carnage blasts from the remaining synthetics, Alex leapt at them, shifting his right arm into a blade. Somersaulting in midair, the virus brought his organic weapon crashing down on the destroyer, cleaving it in half. The juggernaut took advantage of Alex's downward momentum and attacked him point blank with its shotgun. The sociopath's organic shield came up with microseconds to spare, absorbing the blast, but getting shredded in the process. Having no nerves in the shield, Alex didn't feel a thing. Rather than recoil, he simply kicked the confused juggernaut into Liara's waiting singularity field, which battered the geth against some heavy crates until Wrex detonated it with a warp.

They were about to say it was too easy, but three krogan roaring from the walkway did that for him. Free-soloing up the walls to intercept the massive warriors, Cole channeled a massive amount of electricity and frost into his hands. Connecting his arms to the ground with sheathes of ice, the conduit unleashed an ionic freeze. It turned the landscape ahead of him into glacial tundra, with giant spikes of ice penetrating the ground all along the way. The krogan never stood a chance, getting frozen in place by the onslaught and shattered by gunfire, biotics, and hammerfists.

"User alert." A synthesized voice called out over the speakers. "All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage."

Well that sucked.

"Biohazard materials present throughout the facility," the voice continued.

Everyone glared daggers at Alex. He shrugged. "Wasn't me!"

"Virtual intelligence user interface offline." The voice apparently had no idea how annoying she was.

"Great," Wrex muttered. "This place needs to be fixed, and except for Liara, everyone here is an expert at _breaking_ things." Nobody mentioned how damn good Liara was at breaking things with her biotics.

"I'm more concerned about the 'biohazard materials' in this place," Cole said thoughtfully. "We'll need to get the station's VI back online if we're gonna get any answers."

Agreeing that this was the best course of action, they headed further into the facility. Soon they came across a pair of defense turrets. Normally, this was the part where the shooting started, except these turrets were facing the _interior_ door rather than the _exterior_ one. Cole shuddered, knowing full well that such a positioning implied lethal enforcement of containment procedures, just like back in Empire City. "No doubt about it. This is a quarantine zone.

Alex was of the same mind. All the blood that Blackwatch had spilt in New York City was on Dr. Mercer's hands, both before and after the geneticist had released the virus in Penn Station. Gruffly, he muttered, "You set up turrets like that, and you're more concerned about keeping shit in than keeping it out."

Nobody responded the Alex's morbid bit of insight. They just stepped into the elevator, and rode it up into Central Station.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_Docked at Port Hanshan_

"Find anything yet?" Ryan asked Cortana. They were looking for anything that might tell them what Cole, Alex and the others were walking into at Peak 15.

"Nothing," the AI replied. "But I'm close to…" She tilted her head curiously. "That's odd."

"What?" came the Chief's gruff voice.

"There's more than one quarantine in effect on Peak 15. The first is station-wide, and the other is isolated to a single room." The blue construct frowned. "What's the logic behind that?"

Ryan sighed. "Considering they've entered the facility, we'll know a lot more about the station-wide quarantine soon enough."

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Central Station_

Cole alerted the squad to geth presence behind the next door, so they went into the destroyed cafeteria with guns blazing, biotics flaring, and Alex… rampaging. It was over in seconds, and the worst of the damage was a bullet through the viral runner's head, which instantly healed.

Cole was about to comment on how well they functioned as a team, when the creaking and groaning of metal on… something. Liara gasped. "What was that?"

"Probably debris," Wrex sighed. "Don't have a panic attack. I'll protect you." Of course the krogan severely doubted it was debris. But it was better than saying that his instincts were relentlessly screaming at him to find and kill the source of that noise. More than usual, that is.

Over by the butchered remains of a geth rocket trooper, Alex was going nuts. There was a presence here. A hive mind race of some kind. It was intelligent, cunning, and baying for blood, just like him. It would descend upon their position, and when it arrived, Alex knew one thing for sure.

The room would become a slaughterhouse for everyone standing in it. Friend and foe alike would be broken like twigs before a hurricane. Not because he was going to lose control, but because he _needed_ to cut loose. As a virus, he was designed solely to kill. Through his own Blacklight hive mind, Alex could sense that the same was true for this new threat. Nature itself demanded that one of the two factions die.

And Alex Mercer did _not_ die.

Swiftly turning to the others, he issued a warning that only Cole would be able to interpret. "Cole!" He shrieked, catching his long-time friend's attention. Barely above a whisper, the Blacklight Virus said one word. "Predation."

Cole's joy at regaining his cryokinetic powers instantly disappeared, replaced by complete terror. This would be _so_ much worse than Akuze. The conduit grabbed Liara by the arm and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Everyone get the fuck outta here!" Garrus obliged, but when Wrex hesitated and started to open his mouth, Cole yelled again. "Don't ask, dammit! Just run!"

There wasn't time to file into the hallway, so Cole rushed them all to the corner of the cafeteria furthest from the action, and he generated a thick wall of ice to keep them safe, relatively speaking. "Whatever you do," he whispered. "Don't try to help. I don't care if Saren himself shows up. You do _not_ want to be near Alex Mercer right now."

The looks on their faces showed mixed responses. Garrus was curious, already wanting to solve the mystery, like this was a C-Sec case. Wrex was barely able to contain his excitement. Throw in a slab of varren meat, and you had dinner and a show. Liara's expression was a mix of fear and interest. She was about to see the true face of the man that saved her life, and it would forever alter her view of him. For better or worse, however, she didn't know yet.

They all watched Alex as he stood there, claws at the ready. Then they heard it. A screeching noise filled the room, and they looked for the source. It had come from a giant spider-like creature with a pair of spindly tendrils that ended in large bulbs. Then, they saw another one. A third one appeared, accompanied by over a dozen smaller green insect things. Their high-pitched wailing pierced the air a second time, before half of the small ones charged at an incredible speed.

Snarling, Alex delivered a punishing kick to the nearest bug, sending it flying. It slammed into its allies, knocking them all down like bowling pins.

Explosive bowling pins. These things apparently were kamikaze bugs. The viral hunter had gotten lucky enough to kick it away before they managed to explode in a cloud of poisonous gas. The second wave of bomber bugs hadn't made it more than two feet when a malicious column of black spikes ripped through the ground and blew them all up.

The larger spiders weren't idle during this time. One had been slowly approaching Alex, and upon seeing that its opponent was temporarily immobilized, it barreled forward, spitting acid on approach.

"Shit!" Alex swore as his left flank began to slough off, melted by the green fluid. He didn't care though. It was a small price to pay to eliminate every last one of those small bastards. Yanking his arm out of the ground, he yelled, "Bring it!"

And the spider brought it. Before Alex could bring his claws to bear, the thing had already punched a hole straight through his gut with one of its tendrils. While Alex reeled from the shock, it sliced into his head with the second one. Roaring in pain and fury, the runner cut the tendrils off at the pods, grabbed the wounded creature by its now-truncated limbs, and ripped it apart with his bare hands. Drenched in alien innards, he yanked the pods out of his head and stomach and screamed, "Who's next?"

As if in response to his challenge, a fourth and fifth spider burst out of the air vents on the floor. Alex quickly removed them from play by tossing the razor-sharp pods straight into their main body cavities, pulping their vital organs on impact. "Three down," he bellowed, shifting his right arm into the blade and the left back into a claw. "Three to go!"

There was a moment of silence, lasting all of a second and a half, as the warring parties soundlessly respected each other's power. Then all unholy hell broke loose as they sliced, diced, stabbed, impaled, spit acid, and expelled biomass in attempts to kill each other.

Garrus was in shock. Spirits… _This_ was the kind of man he had been serving on the _Normandy_ with? He knew the tales about Akuze, but he thought they had been somewhat exaggerated. If anything, the official story didn't give Alex Mercer enough credit. Sure, he was impressed, but more than that, he was worried: Why would someone – some_thing_ – so incredibly powerful willingly obey Cole or Commander Ryan when the whole damn galaxy may as well be its plaything?

Wrex was in awe. "Animal of Akuze" indeed. If he didn't know better, he'd think Alex was going into blood rage. The blood-soaked creature was no man. It was the humanoid equivalent of Kalros. There was something oddly familiar about the fight and the enemy, but Wrex just couldn't seem to place it…

Liara didn't move a muscle. Never had she witnessed something so primal in her life. If this was his ground state of being, then the willpower required to keep it in check the way he often did had to be _enormous_. For some reason, though, she wasn't scared. At least, she wasn't scared for her own safety. She couldn't say the same for her mother, however. The young asari was beginning to understand that fighting Alex was an effort in futility. One had a better chance of fighting gravity or the forward movement of time. Alex Mercer was a force of nature, yet he strove to be a man as well, as shown by his interactions with others. Goddess… This was all too much to take in. They had come here looking for Benezia and for answers about Saren. Yet all she could think about right now was the apex predator before her.

As Alex sunk his entire blade into the last spider's neck, Cole sighed in relief. He had been afraid that the viral powerhouse would use a devastator in his excitement. Taking down their icy barricade with a shockwave, Cole motioned for the squad to follow. They complied, albeit hesitantly. The place was absolutely drenched in gore, and the room was covered with claw marks and acid burns. Alex looked even worse than the room, but the regeneration process had already begun.

Wrex was the first to break the silence. "I'm gonna skip the part where we awkwardly avoid the matter like little girls and ask: What the hell brought that on?"

Alex gave a psychotic grin. "Instinct. These spiders are intelligent. They can plan. And they're probably the 'biohazard materials' that were mentioned on the speakers. If so, then we're on their turf. That makes us all targets. So, in the one language that every species understands, I sent a message that _I_ am hunting _them_, and not the other way around."

The last of his wounds beginning to close, he stalked off down the hall. The others caught up with him at an elevator, and for a moment, nobody moved. Alex figured out why everyone was just standing there, and he laughed. "I'm not gonna flip out and kill you all in the elevator, if that's what you're afraid of. I'm in total control."

Wrex just lumbered in, followed by Cole, Liara, and Garrus. "He's telling the truth," Cole said with a smirk. "He hasn't killed anyone inside an elevator for years now."

Alex twitched. "That was one time Cole! Besides I didn't flip out on my ex. It was completely premeditated."

"You… killed your ex in an elevator?" Liara asked, unsure what to think of this.

Alex grinned again. "She sold me out to government spooks to save her own skin."

Wrex grunted. "Payback's a bitch."

"So was she." Alex responded, not missing a beat.

Before the atmosphere had time to become awkward, the elevator opened, and another giant bug tore out of the air vent to greet them. Liara immediately lifted the creature into the air, where Cole, Garrus, and Wrex pounded it from a distance. "They seem vulnerable to biotics," the asari observed.

They made their way around the corner, killing a handful of the smaller explosive ones, and came to a halt before the VI core. Cole used his electricity to increase the signal strength of his comm. "Hey Ryan… how soon can you get to my location with Tali?"

* * *

_Thirty Seconds Later_

The Splicer King appeared before them with the quarian girl holding his arm in a death grip. "This fast enough? I would have been here sooner, but Tali hates teleporting." He turned to the mechanic. "I told you that you could trust me." Looking back at the others, Ryan became all business. "What's the problem?"

They all simultaneously pointed at the VI core. Tali sighed. "I'll see what I can do." As she descended into the chamber, a metallic skittering noise echoed through the whole room.

"What… was that?" Ryan asked slowly, pulling out his shotgun with one hand and activating winterblast with the other for the heat diffusion.

"Good question," Cole muttered. "For now, the best answer we've got is big, intelligent spiders."

"_Spiders?!_" Tali yelled. "Of all things, it had to be spiders?!"

"Arachnophobic Tali?" Ryan inquired. Before she could respond, he spawned fiery cyclone traps all around the room, blocking off every possible entry point. "Defensive perimeter in front of the core, people. Don't let anything near our mechanic!"

Alex looked at the line of burning traps, and thought of New York. "Third general order," he said to himself. "Nothing crosses the Red Line."

Nothing did. Garrus put clean shots through the large ones' heads. Wrex alternated between pounding away with his shotgun and detonating biotic combinations with Liara. The asari was keeping the little ones at bay with singularities. Ryan had put away his shotgun in favor of placing more traps, as well as attacking the bugs directly with any plasmid he thought would work. Alex was spearing anything that moved on the end of his whipfist. Cole was spamming lightning and ice, utterly surprising Ryan with his use of the latter.

"Since when can you do that?" the Splicer King yelled, choosing his words carefully.

"That's nothing!" Cole replied. Charging a massive concentration of power into his arms, he let loose a second ionic freeze that devastated the bugs and seemed to bring an end to the fighting for now. Turning back to Ryan, the conduit glared. "I'll be sure to tell you _all_ about it later."

Ryan sighed, knowing that this would be an awkward post-mission debrief. "You done down there, Tali?"

"Yes. Can we get out of here now?"

Ryan chuckled. "So now you _want_ me to teleport you?"

The quarian shook her head. "I'm taking the lesser of two evils!"

Ryan laughed, and waited while she rode the lift back up.

Alex easily noticed the tone of Cole's voice. He began to go over the pieces in his head. "_He's treating the return of his ice powers as an insult to Ryan. He lost said ice powers on the Columbia Paradox job. That would imply that Ryan was… Oh, son of a __**bitch**__!_"

While the group was conversing with a very annoying VI named Mira, Ryan felt the room's temperature drop twenty degrees, and he knew it had nothing to do with the ice that Cole had just laid down. He turned around to see Alex Mercer seething with a quiet but powerful fury. He met the killer's glare unflinchingly and shook his head. Now was not the time.

"Commander Ryan," said a filtered voice. He looked at the nervous quarian. "As much as I love being in a freezing cold science facility crawling with _spiders_," she shuddered. "I'd really like to get out of here now."

"With pleasure," he responded. "Let's go." Grabbing her by the wrist, he teleported them back to the _Normandy's_ engineering deck. Ryan silently thanked Tali for giving him a reasonable excuse to leave. He wouldn't put it past Alex to kill him right now.

Back in the Peak 15 VI Core, it became apparent that everything they wanted was at the facility's Rift Station. Of course, getting there wasn't going to be easy. Alex led Wrex and Liara up to the roof to reconnect the landlines, while Cole and Garrus headed for the reactor core.

This was less about getting the job done than it was about making that damn VI shut the hell up.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Central Station_

_Roof_

_Team 1_

"More bugs!" Alex shouted, extending his claws and running straight into the thick of things.

"Remind me why we don't know what they are again?" Wrex yelled while launching a carnage blast from his shotgun, incinerating a spider on impact.

"Apparently," Liara commented while catching more small bugs in a singularity. "Cole's Spectre status grants us 'Secure Access' only. We need 'Privileged Access' to get that information."

"Which is complete…" Alex paused to raise his foot before bringing it down hard on the last spider's head. "Bullshit!" Liara gasped when she saw him reach down and grab his left arm out of a snowbank. "Come on, let's fix these damn landlines."

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Central Station_

_Main Reactor Core_

_Team 2_

"Scratch that one!" Garrus bragged as he blew the head clean off yet another geth. This had been going on for the past ten minutes, and they could hear a juggernaut stomping around above them.

"So let me get this straight," Cole thought out loud while firing bolts at the hoppers. "The geth are attacking us. The bugs are attacking us. Yet somehow, they aren't attacking _each other_?"

"Pretty much," the turian remarked, firing at the juggernaut that had finally come out to play.

"That's just messed," the conduit complained. He tossed a cluster grenade, a group of multiple shock grenades that clung to targets on contact. Three of the explosives caught onto the juggernaut, and they ripped the mechanical warrior to shreds.

"Alright, Garrus. Mira said it would be easy to repair these fuel lines. Let's hope she was right."

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Central Station_

_Decontamination Chamber_

_Reunited Squad_

"He killed himself." Liara observed, looking down at the dead salarian corpse. "Because he was part of whatever happened here."

Wrex grunted. "Among my people, a suicide's body would be left for scavengers. The nathak will get to him eventually."

"That's _exactly_ what this place needs Wrex," Garrus said dryly. "Nathak. Why didn't I think of it before?"

"We're wasting time," Alex muttered. He was eager to get this over with. Something about this whole place was starting to feel… off. The memories of the krogan and even a few asari that he'd consumed in the Terminus systems were on edge at the discovery of the spidery aliens. Not only that, but what could there possibly be linking Saren, Benezia, and the geth to these giant bugs. There was also the small matter of an _imminent antimatter warhead strike_ if they didn't hurry up.

Cole finally sighed, giving up on repairing the plasma vents conventionally. "Asari and gentlemen, I present the one solution that never requires me to RTFM." Placing both hands on the terminal, he ran a forced massive electrical current through it, and was rewarded with the screams of dying insects within the decontamination chamber. "Works every time," he snickered.

The victory was short lived as yet another bug burst out of the vents. By now, however, the air vent ambush had become tedious rather than surprising. The thing was dead in seconds.

They dealt with the small spiders at the other side of the decontamination chamber just as efficiently, and stepped onto the tram.

"Now departing Central Station," Mira declared, much to everyone's annoyance. "Destination: Rift Station."

Alex's heightened senses could easily pick up Liara's erratic pulse. She was trying so hard to keep calm, but this was bothering her to no end. Alex thought of what he could do to remedy the situation even slightly. She'd get herself killed otherwise. Luckily, she addressed him first.

"Alex," the asari said hesitantly. The living virus turned to look at her. "Promise me something." Her tone made it sound like a last request.

"Anything," Alex responded instantly. Strangely enough, he realized that he meant it too. It didn't matter. With what she was going through right now, whatever she wanted, she'd get.

"Promise me that… even if my mother refuses to tell us anything…" A tear slid down the blue woman's face. "Promise me that you will not… You will not take… Ugh!" Unable to finish, Liara began to sob gently.

Liara couldn't say it, but the message was clear as day: She was begging him not to consume Benezia. Even at the beginning, in New York, he _never_ interacted with children and that was when he _didn't_ give a damn. Now, he had this girl who knew that they would soon likely be confronting her mother. And she was asking Alex to be a man she could trust instead of a monster just here to kill.

Sighing, Alex reached down and placed a comforting hand on Liara's shoulder, taking great care not to accidentally hurt her. She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. He didn't let her down. "Liara, you haven't seen you're mother in years. If this ends up being the last time you see Benezia, I won't make… _that_ your final memory of her." He shifted his other hand into a claw, and literally "crossed his heart" for good measure, earning a tiny smile from the teary-eyed asari. She looked at him, trying desperately to find words that would express her gratitude.

The tram docked with Rift Station, jolting everyone inside. When Liara looked back up, Alex was already walking out the door alongside Wrex. The krogan accused the hooded Supernova of going soft.

"You caught me, Wrex," Alex said with zero sarcasm. "I have indeed gone soft over the years."

Amused by the battlemaster's confusion, the virus grinned. "As you saw back at Central Station, I used to be much, _much_ worse."

* * *

**I am sooooo sorry for ending it here. As I said, I wanted this to be two long-ish chapters instead of one massive chapter. *Hides behind chair.* Don't hate me! I'll post the second half soon. I promise!**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	20. Have You Faced a Supernova Before?

**I have returned to bring you the ending of the Noveria arc. There is much still to do.**

**Be advised: This chapter contains a discussion on the ethics of bio-weapons and genocide. They in no way reflect my personal views, only how I would expect the characters present to respond.**

**Also, if anyone here has seen the movie **_**The Replacements**_**, starring Keanu Reeves, try and identify the shout out I've put in this chapter. I doubt anyone will look for it, but who knows?**

**One last thing: Don't expect the Benezia fight to look at all familiar to what you saw in the game. Apparently the whole point of the battle was to drain her stamina and kill the waves of enemies, but that doesn't make sense. Anyone who's played Mass Effect 2 and 3 knows that a decent biotic can toss out more power in seconds than Benezia did in the **_**entire**__**fight**_**, and doing so won't make you collapse like she did either. Thus, I'm giving it an overhaul that I hope you'll all enjoy.**

**Summary: The team discovers that these spiders were once the galaxy's worst nightmare. After curing a bio-weapon, things go downhill. They fight to Benezia, and learn some shocking truths. Of course, that still leaves one question: What will Cole and Alex sing?**

**Spoilers Warning: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype, Assassin's Creed, Fallout 3 and The Old Republic.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned anything here, I wouldn't be on FanFiction, would I?**

* * *

Have You Faced a Supernova Before?

_Noveria  
Peak 15_

_Rift Station_

_Main Barricade_

"Halt and state your business!" a man in white armor demanded. "What were you doing on that train?"

Cole snorted. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm in the real estate business, and I thought this place was on the market." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm Cole MacGrath with Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, so get those damn guns out of my face."

Deliberating for a moment, the man finally waved off his troops. "Sorry, we're a little twitchy for obvious reasons. I'm Captain Ventralis."

Garrus' expression was hard. "You've got all your men on stims, which means sleep is at a minimum. That's not the best long-term survival stategy."

Ventralis glared at the turian. "If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it, because…" A familiar skittering noise cut him off. "Oh, hell! Man the perimeter!"

A pair of bugs tore out of the vents, one of them hitting Garrus in the leg with acid spit. Hopped up on stims, the men were likely to fire on Alex the moment he did something inhuman, so he yelled for Wrex's assault rifle as the krogan moved to protect their turian sniper. Similarly, Cole took a pistol that Garrus managed toss him. Thanks to Wrex and Liara's biotics, the spiders were floating helplessly in midair, easy targets for everyone in the room.

Two bullet-ridden insects later, Ventralis explained that the things kept coming up from the hot labs. "The board sent an asari to clean up the mess." He explained. "She went to the hot labs yesterday. We haven't heard from her since."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Well, we've got what we need. Thanks, Captain. We'll have this all cleaned up soon enough."

With that, the virus walked past Ventralis and into Central Station. Sighing audibly, Cole followed with the rest of the team in tow and Ventralis hollering at them to get Garrus to the doctor. "Alex, hold up!" His friend slowed, but didn't stop. Running up beside his friend, the conduit whispered, "Why exactly are we walking _away_ from the hot labs?"

"Because Benezia isn't down there," Alex replied simply. "He never said they sent a Matriarch, let alone Benezia specifically. He just said 'an asari' which means nothing." Cole gestured for him to continue. "Cole, these things are horribly weak against biotics, so if Benezia hasn't come back in over a day, then it wasn't her. Regardless, I'm not jumping head first into a hive of those things until I've talked with the one guy who made it out of the hot labs alive. Wait here."

On that last order, Alex marched over to a tranquil looking asari, who immediately became anything but tranquil. "What?" she asked petulantly.

Alex smiled. This would be too easy. "You're a member of the science teams, right? You seem a bit out of place here."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm recently transferred, so, naturally, I may stick out just a tad among the rest of these people."

Alex nodded and continued. "And you do… what, exactly?"

The asari huffed. "Molecular genetics. I specialize in biotic-enhanced allele-specific hybridization." She smirked, believing that this would scare off the simple-minded human.

Cole saw where this was going. "_Open mouth_…" he thought.

Alex grinned. "I've looked into the theory of using biotics in genetic sequencing. Whose method do you prefer? The salarians can do it better but they have too few biotics. The asari, on the other hand, have a natural talent for the necessary biomathematics, but your long lifespan decreases the need to finish the proper work anytime soon."

Cole tried extremely hard not to laugh. "_Insert foot._"

Stunned into silence, the asari just stood there, and Alex's smile was replaced by a murderous gaze that turned her blue skin several shades lighter in fear. "I would like to know where to find Han Olar, and if you don't tell me with a polite voice, you're gonna be breathing through your eye sockets."

Quaking in terror, the asari scientist pointed a shivering hand toward the hallway that led to the lower levels. "Good," Alex said, smiling now, but without a trace of kindness in his eyes. "And which way to the doctor?" She pointed to the door on her left, still too frightened to speak. "Thanks. I'd recommend getting back to that meditation. You look pretty tense." Winking, the sociopath walked away.

Liara frowned as she followed the two powerhouses down to the med lab. "Alex, how did you know that she was meditating?"

Alex closed his eyes and sighed. "I recognized the stance. I gave that crap a try myself years ago. I thought I could find some measure of peace, but I can't 'find my center' with a _decentralized_ nervous system, can I?"

That ended all conversation until they had Garrus' leg being treated by Mira. At least the VI was good for something. Alex suddenly noticed that there were a lot of sick people in the lab with identical symptoms. "Doc!" he called, catching Dr. Cohen's attention. "What do these people have? These aren't symptoms of chemical or physical afflictions. Is it viral or microbial, and what idiot didn't make a cure first?"

Dr. Cohen was planning on telling this hooded madman that he couldn't discuss it, but one look into the stranger's pale eyes promised a future of pain if he didn't cooperate.

"They were exposed to a toxin in the middle of an experiment. When the Code Omega took Mira offline, it caused this whole mess." The hooded man motioned for Cohen to continue. "It's a bio-weapon, based on an exotic life form. They wanted something that could kill the creature."

Alex held up his hand for silence. "Let me see if I can guess at the rest of the story. You modified the toxin to affect other species? Don't answer that. The fact that we were allowed in this room means that your toxin is infectious, but not contagious. That implies the bio-weapon was meant to do its job without causing a world-ending pandemic." Alex looked up smugly. "How am I doing?"

Dr. Cohen was struck dumb by the sheer intelligence the mysterious man before him displayed. "How did you…?"

Alex gave a small, cocky bow. "Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. I'm a geneticist, specializing in chimeric virus modification. I won't bother making a hypocrite of myself by questioning your morals. People _will_ create this kind of shit regardless, so it may as well be done in a proper lab instead of downtown Zakera Ward. Just tell me two things. First, why didn't you modify it to work on those fucking spiders?" Cohen looked at the ground in embarrassment. "Second, are you close to a cure? Because these people have two hours left if I'm feeling generous." The Blacklight Virus's only male runner became as cold as the ice outside. "And you know by now that they don't pay men like you and me to feel."

Cohen sighed. "Our first priority was getting it _working_. The antidote was almost finished when Mira went down."

Alex took in a deep breath. He didn't know if it was true concern or the all consuming guilt he felt for the actions of the real Dr. Mercer, but it mattered little. The irony of a virus creating a cure left a bitter taste in his mouth all the same. He told Ryan how he'd sworn never to take the Hippocratic Oath. And he would never consume anyone that truly believed in the spirit of that oath. But this task didn't need a normal physician. What these people needed was help from one of the best damn geneticists in the galaxy, and Alex happened to fit that bill perfectly.

After making sure that the toxin was no longer a threat and that the notes and equipment were in the quarantine labs, Alex promised Cohen the cure in the next half hour. The bald man's eyes widened. "Ventralis isn't letting anyone in there. I've told him that the toxin's period of viability has long since passed, but he doesn't care! You can't possibly expect to change his mind."

Alex just smiled darkly. "I don't plan on giving him a choice."

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Rift Station_

_Quarantine Labs and Maintenance Access_

It took all of five seconds to convince Ventralis that his survival rate would decrease dramatically if they weren't allowed through quarantine. Even better, they saw Han Olar upon arrival. They didn't have Ryan's knack for "speaking mask," but the PTSD was obvious clear, even through the suit.

The bulbous alien turned to face them. "You came to find out about _them_, didn't you?"

Cole raised an eyebrow. "You know what they are?" As nice as it would be to get answers, he wasn't sure how stable this little guy was.

Han Olar stood completely still for a moment before he spoke again. There was zero trace of emotion in his voice. "Of course I know that they're rachni. I'm the one from the hot labs, after all."

The reactions were all across the board. Alex winced in pain from another vision-induced episode, indicating that they were definitely on the right track. Wrex gave a low growl, insulted that his ancestors' nemesis was still alive. Liara gasped, unable to believe what she had heard. Garrus' mandibles flared in anger. He was all for Noveria's lack of scrutiny, but this went way too far. Cole's reaction was the least impressive. "What the hell's a rachni?"

The volus took a breath. "If you haven't died yet, then you already know what they are."

Wrex snarled. "We know _what _they are, genius. My people died by the millions to exterminate those bugs! How the hell are they still alive?"

Not even reacting to the angry krogan next to him, Han Olar merely took another breath. "They found it in a derelict ship. An egg. Waiting since the last battles. They brought it here-"

Over in the far corner, a human scientist began to complain in a nasal tone. "Shut up! Damn, do you wanna get us killed?"

Turning to the man, the volus' monotone continued. "I don't have any control over who… lives or dies here. Do you?"

A turian scientist rounded on Han Olar now. "If you're gonna be crazy, be the quiet kind!"

The resident sociopath fixed the turian with a glare. "You got something against crazy? Choose your answer carefully, because I happen to be downright _psychotic_."

Nobody said a word. Not even Han Olar. Conversation over, the squad headed into quarantine. That's when it hit Cole. "What kind of rachni egg would be the most valuable?"

Alex's eyes widened when he realized where Cole was going with this. "A queen. They were breeding a fucking rachni army here. Then things went to hell, as per the usual in a morally ambiguous science facility."

Garrus clicked his mandibles. "The only question is what's the connection to Saren?"

Liara sighed. "And how does my mother fit in?"

Three seconds after the quarantine door had locked behind them, Alex figured it out. "Biotic-enhanced allele-specific hybridization… That little bitch! The rachni queen contains something in her genetic memory about the Conduit, and Saren sent Benezia here to get it."

Cole sighed as the pieces began to fall into place. "One problem at a time. Let's just get that cure for now."

Alex smirked. That he could do.

_Two minutes later_

The former geneticist grinned. "I've got it. The cure will be ready in a moment." He continued typing away at the keypad. "I gotta say, in terms of potency, only two other bio-weapons surpass this little guy."

Curiousity won over, and Garrus asked. "Which ones are they?"

Alex laughed as he took out the vial of antidote, handing it to Liara for safe keeping. "Here's a hint: I'm infected with one, and every krogan in the galaxy is infected with the other." Wrex sat in the corner, pretending not to enjoy Garrus' awkward suffering.

They all took defensive stances when the door opened and Alestia Iallis stormed in flanked by geth. "End of the line for you guys."

Garrus slammed the tungsten mod into his sniper rifle. "Wanna bet?"

Cole raised his arms, lightning streaming. "What the hell does Benezia need from the rachni?"

Alestia wore a haughty grin. "You won't live long enough to care. I've been ordered to eliminate you, should the opportunity arise. And here you are, trapped in this lab." Her biotics flared. "Weapons free!"

Liara raised a barrier to protect the antidote. She wouldn't be able to help in this fight. The others could do plenty, though. "Keep your fire away from the asari!" Alex yelled. "She's mine!"

Heeding the hunter's command, Cole, Wrex, and Garrus pounded the geth backup with ranged strikes. Meanwhile, Alex simply strode right through the barrage of gunfire, completely ignoring any bullets that hit him.

Eyes widening in fear, Alestia hurled a biotic throw at the Animal of Akuze. Unfortunately, Alex was immune to mass-raising and mass-lowering biotic fields. When the former struck him, he simply decreased his weight, like he did to glide, and when the latter hit him, Alex increased his weight considerably, rendering the field useless. Either way, Alestia was screwed, and she knew it.

Spraying assault rifle fire directly into her aggressor's torso, Alestia watched in horror as her gun overheated without even making him flinch. In a last ditch effort, she deployed a warp field that caught Alex square in the chest. _That_ affected him.

Spatial distortion was the only field of biotics that he couldn't resist. It shredded things at the molecular level, which completely disrupted his ability to rebuild on a cellular level. A large portion of his sternum and ribcage sloughed off and disintegrated. Of course, he had enough biomass in reserve that she had done little more than piss him off.

The hooded sociopath gave the woman a light kick in the shin. Of course, light by his standards was enough to snap her leg in half. Screaming, she began to fall to the ground, only for Alex to swiftly reach out and catch her by the scalp crest. Liara winced, knowing that _had_ to hurt.

Perfectly imitating a Welsh accent, Alex smirked and said, "Let's play football, bitch!"

He brought his foot up to meet her skull, caving it in instantly. Tendrils stretched out, and Alex consumed the fresh kill, healing his injuries from the warp and sending him into the Web of Intrigue.

* * *

_Web of Intrigue Node 392_

_Alestia Iallis_

_Matriarch Benezia: You are to eliminate the Spectre and his compatriots if an opportunity presents itself. Though I doubt it will even come to that._

_Alestia Iallis: You have other plans in motion, Lady Benezia?_

_Matriarch Benezia: Yes. I've ordered that fool, Captain Ventralis, to convince them that I've gone to the hot labs. Even he should be capable of that much. Should they survive, they will be at death's door, and Ventralis' men will finish them off easily._

_Alestia Iallis: Then I am a contingency?_

_Matriarch Benezia: You are a huntress. You will infiltrate, and if need be, assassinate. And if you must go through Ventralis' men to discreetly terminate the Spectre, then don't hesitate. A few human lives are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things._

_Alestia Iallis: I will not fail you, my Lady._

_End of Node 392_

* * *

Alex took a moment to collect himself. Turning to Liara, he asked, "Are all asari commandos that skilled?"

"They are. Why do you ask, Alex?"

"Because Benezia's personal guard is entirely Nova-class." He glared. "And that bastard Ventralis is a traitor!"

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Rift Station_

_Main Barricade_

Ventralis was getting annoyed. First, that damn Spectre hadn't taken the bait, now Alestia had been radio silent for too long. She'd had the perfect opportunity to kill MacGrath and his allies in the quarantine labs, and with her talents, the job should be finished by now. Benezia was paying him a lot to look the other way if she killed that guard by quarantine. Asari work with infiltration and sabotage, and she had easily fooled all these supposed "geniuses." It couldn't possibly be that difficult for Alestia outsmart some Spectre punk.

If that was the case, then where the hell _was_ she? Ventralis was deliberating whether or not to contact the commando, but a flash of blue tore right into the barricade, saving him the trouble.

"Captain?" It was Alestia, but he'd never heard this kind of panic from her before. "Thank the goddess you're alive! It's coming for you!"

Ventralis felt his stomach drop. Alestia was never nervous. Nothing scared her because nothing could touch her. "What're you talking about? What's coming for me?"

"That thing! The hooded guy with the Spectre. He's not _human_, Ventralis. He doesn't _die_! He's coming this way, and he's going to kill us all!"

Motioning for every guard in the room to watch the door, he took Alestia aside. "How did he find out about me? Did you say anything?" He doubted it. Alestia would gloat about her skills, but she wasn't careless.

The asari's panicked expression instantly changed to a sadistic grin. Ventralis practically shat gold when she began to speak with a familiar New York male's voice. "People like me have _other_ ways of learning the truth."

Comprehension hadn't even sunk in when a hand plunged through the captain's stomach and out his back, lifting him off the ground. Alestia Iallis slowly disappeared in a writhing mass of black flesh, replaced by the terrifying visage of one pissed off Alex Mercer. "Surprise." He said, tossing Ventralis' body aside to bleed out.

The rest of the guards opened fire in an uncoordinated panic, spraying bullets all across Alex's side of the room. Alex stood there, casually shifting to his claws and pretending to pick something out of his teeth. Eventually, all their guns were overheated, and they hadn't so much as fazed him. Smiling psychotically, the virus said, "My turn…"

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

Ryan was concerned.

Normally this statement accompanied a room full of dead bodies and a blaring alarm, but in this case, he was concerned about something a bit more philosophical.

They were becoming too attached to Shepard's territory. This was just another job, yet they had laid down actual roots over the years they had spent here. In the past month alone, they had become part of the galaxy's most elite organization, formed several lasting friendships, taken control of a prototype warship, and more. Between the Prothean vision burnt into Alex and Ryan's minds, and the fact that Cole recovered his ice powers here on Noveria, the three of them would be indelibly bound to this territory, regardless of when they were done with the job.

More proof lay in the source of Ryan's immediate concern. Cortana had forwarded him a message she had taken from a private terminal in the Embassies as payback for the paperwork. Apparently, a small but fanatical commune of biotics had been established in the Hawking Eta Cluster, and they were sending open invitations. It wasn't the purpose of the message that caught the Rapture-spawn's attention, but rather the sender's name.

Major Kyle of the Systems Alliance Navy. Honorably discharged. Now he ran a crazed cult of biotics. Ryan normally wouldn't give a crap about this kind of thing, but now it was different. Unlike Cole's grudge, which Ryan would only take responsibility for in absolute privacy, Major Kyle's hatred was born from perspective. Where the former Alliance officer had seen a massacre, Ryan, Anderson, Hackett, and half of the brass at Arcturus saw a crushing victory over the batarians and their pirate allies. It was strange, and not like Ryan at all, but he wanted to see the Major and find some of the closure that was lost when Unique Shepard had sent them forward by five years.

That was another thing that concerned the Splicer King. Normal jobs were completed in weeks. Lengthy jobs took a couple of months. They had been here for _years_, and that was before going to Eden Prime. Now they had a sense of the real job, but they weren't even close to bringing down Saren yet.

How much did Shepard actually do for this galaxy? Were the Supernovas nearing the end of the job? Or had they hardly scratched the surface?

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Rift Station_

_Maintenance Access_

While Alex was cleaning house, Cole and the others had spent their time keeping some measure of order. With Ventralis dead and his men left in little pieces, the scientists would need protection. No longer required to maintain a low profile, the conduit froze off any possible entrance the rachni could use, ensuring the scientists' safety. The ice he used to block off the vents was porous enough to let in air, but sturdy enough to keep out any 'contaminants' as Mira still called them.

Then, while Garrus and Liara calmed down the crowd of panicking nerds, Cole delivered the antidote to Dr. Cohen. He informed the microbiologist of the situation before sealing the med lab shut and draining the power to the door at the top of the stairs. When everything was dealt with, he'd recharge it, but for now the doctor was safest in isolation with his patients.

All that had stood in their way was a lone Rachni in the maintenance area, and it lasted all of three seconds against a certain krogan's shotgun. "Technology's improved while you've been dead for these past seventeen centuries, insect," Wrex grumbled.

Once Alex returned they all strode unimpeded through the bowels of the station. Cole was leading the way by tracking any and all signs of life via his radar pulse. He faintly sensed geth, but in the next room he could clearly detect two very distinct life signs. One of them was, without a doubt, Matriarch Benezia. That meant the other was likely the Rachni Queen.

Halting before the door, Cole turned to face the squad. "Showtime. What's the plan?"

Alex's neutral expression did little to hide his fury. "Our enemies are wearing light armor, and they're heavy-hitters in the telekinesis department. What do you think my plan is?"

Cole knew what Alex was referring to. The Dromund Kaas job. With everything at stake, Alex, Cole, and Desmond Miles had brought the entire Sith Empire to its knees by raising sheer hell. A lightly-armored, psychokinetic adversary was formidable, but by using tactics that punished the dark warriors' preference for mobility over true defense, they died all the same. Groundspikes and lightning storms devastated the complex, bringing it down on their enemies' heads. The few remaining survivors between them and the Emperor were reduced to empty shells by the power of the Apple, which Old Man Pendragon himself had permitted for use on that job. The Emperor, of course, was a powerful Supernova, but while trying to suspend the roof that Alex tried to drop on him and defending against an unending horizontal column of lightning, Desmond actually had time to walk up and say "Requiescat in pace" before killing the Dark Lord.

They had all been more than a little pissed off that it hadn't actually been the Emperor.

Cole sighed. "Alex just gave you the green light to do whatever it takes to win. Use illegal ammo mods. Gouge eyes. Abuse any conveniently-placed crates and explosives. Enhance your physical blows with biotics if you have them. Hell, Wrex. If eating them actually does the trick then by all means do it. Just. _**Win**_."

Slowly, they all nodded in agreement. Liara hesitated, steeled herself for what was to come, and finally nodded. It was showtime.

Alex cracked his neck and kicked the door right off its hydraulic hinges. They rushed into the room. Garrus clambered for a decent sniper's perch among the catwalks. Cole ice launched over to the other side of the chamber, ready to fry anything that came in from the far door. Wrex stayed at the entrance covering their six. Alex maintained a protective stance in front of Liara, unsure of how the Matriarch would react to her daughter's presence.

Acting as if the intrusion was beneath her notice, Benezia continued to admire the Rachni Queen. Then she began to speak in a tone that sounded a little bit off in Alex's opinion. "You do not know the privilege of being a mother." The voice of Elizabeth Greene raging inside Alex's head said otherwise. She continued her monologue. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair." The Matriarch's fervor increased, but the deadness of her tone remained. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."

"Yeah," Alex deadpanned. "Because all the others you've sent to 'hunt and slay Saren's enemies' have done a _fantastic_ job. Speaking of which, why is your daughter on that list?"

Benezia seemed like she had only just realized there were others present. Turning towards Alex, she scoffed. "I will not be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation."

Alex growled. "You lost the right to sympathize when I was saving your daughter from geth, krogan, and an exploding volcano while you were cozying up to a deranged turian!" Calming down, the virus continued. "Liara, on the other hand, has every right to feel sorry for _you_. She's been with us long enough to know how this will go down."

Matriarch Benezia looked more amused than anything else. "Indeed? What have you told them about me Liara?"

On the verge of tears, Liara desperately searched for the proper words to direct at a mother she had not spoken to in years. "What _could_ I say, mother?" she choked out. The asari maiden glared. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? _What could I say_?!"

The hooded man placed a hand in front of Liara, symbolically shielding her from the source of her pain. He glared at Benezia. "It's alright Liara. You didn't have to say anything." His psychotic grin slowly crept back onto his face. "Besides, what good would it do to 'explain' how to kill her? I don't like to brag, but I'm pretty good at making things die."

The Matriarch rolled her eyes. "Tell me, Alex Mercer. Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have."

Cole began to howl with laughter from his end of the room. "Lady, do you really think a squad of biotic prima donnas can stop us? They sent _two_ human Spectres after Saren, and only one of them even bothered to show up for you! In all seriousness though," he grinned. "Have you faced the Blacklight Virus before? _Millions_ have, and they're all dead."

Having spoken enough, the elder asari wreathed herself in biotics, obviously preparing for battle. Cole felt his stomach sink into his shoes. "Alex…"

Yeah, yeah," the virus replied, though he didn't move an inch.

Benezia whipped out with both arms, casting a biotic stasis field across the entire room. It caught Cole, Wrex, Garrus, and Liara, leaving them totally vulnerable.

Alex forced his weight to decrease and jumped clear of the mass-raising field. Opening with a stasis implied the worst. Summoning his versatile blade, the predator roared, "Benezia is Supernova-class!" Over by the door Cole was blocking, that asari commando unit the Matriarch had mentioned began to enter the room with geth backing them up. "Oh, this just keeps getting better!" the sociopath yelled in frustration.

With commandos and synthetics closing in, Cole was running through all options in his head at lightning speed (**A/N: pun intended**). He had chosen this position to keep Benezia in the room while blowing away any reinforcements before they could even reach the door. Now he was frozen in place, and in a few seconds, they'd fill him with plasma. Then he remembered the most important factor of mass effect fields:

There was electricity involved. Technology ran an electrical current through eezo via dark energy, altering the charge and magnitude of the current to change the nature of the resulting field. Biotics created their fields biologically, but the laws of electromagnetism still applied in full. Not only that, but any mass effect field created some static charge. Those last two facts could seriously work in his favor.

Acting fast, Cole began to pump his own lightning into the stasis field. Unstable bolts of electricity arced everywhere, overloading nearby geth and attracting the attention of the asari commandos, leaving them wide open for Alex. Now in complete control of the field, Cole restored his own movement and spark-stepped away. In the conduit's absence, the unstable nexus of dark energy did the predictable thing.

**BOOM**

With the commandos in disarray, they made easy prey for a certain viral hunter while Cole carefully drained the stasis field off of his three allies. It was now clear that he was their best weapon against enemy biotics. Alex was largely immune, but Cole _owned_ the mass effect phenomenon at a fundamental level.

Cole unleashed his gigawatt blades and took control. "Garrus and Wrex, you get the geth. I've got the commandos. Liara, provide barrier support where you can. Alex? No playing with your food. Now let's go!"

Benezia remained unimpressed and attempted to cast a second stasis field. Before she could, a powerful biotic push interrupted her and knocked the Matriarch into the glass wall behind her. She had thought it was the krogan battlemaster, but the oaf was too busy fighting Saren's loyal machines. Curiously, the brute had no qualms about working alongside that hotheaded turian, Garrus Vakarian. That left only one person who could have struck her like that:

Liara T'Soni. Her own daughter.

Benezia's mask of indifference took on a bit of edge. Her daughter's skill had become impressive over the years, but she had chosen the wrong side. It was time for some long-overdue disciplinary action. Flaring her biotics, she telekinetically raised Liara into the air before effortlessly flinging her towards the far wall.

There was no collision, however. Alex flipped through the air with unnatural grace, catching Liara in his arms as if she weighed nothing.

"My, my," Benezia mocked. "It seems that my daughter has a protector." Now with a clear target, she directed all forces at the younger T'Soni.

Putting the maiden down, Alex whipped out the blade again, carving a line into the floor in front of him. It was fairly obvious what would happen to anything stupid enough to come near the line, let alone cross it.

None made it that far. This was a squad that looked after its own. They were crazy, maybe, but they were in this together.

Wrex, gripped by blood rage, charged into the fray, barrier up and shotgun booming. Each time the krogan pulled the trigger, he blew something apart. When his gun overheated, Wrex was instantly being pounded from all sides by asari and geth. Roaring, the battlemaster switched to his secondary weapon: brute force. Stampeding down the walkway, the krogan rammed a cluster of geth with the force of a truck, shattering their frames on impact. Wrex clotheslined two commandos that failed to move in time, pulverizing their bodies from the waist up, before his shotgun finally cooled down, and he started the entire process from the beginning.

Garrus, having found a decent vantage point, was mercilessly putting round after round in their enemies' heads. Since Wrex was the biggest target, Garrus focused on whatever the krogan wasn't currently looking at. With both of them using weapons with slow rates of fire, the turian timed his shots in between Wrex's to make sure that the killing never let up. How could anyone do that to their daughter? Yeah, his own father detested Garrus' approach to law enforcement, but all he did was keep him from applying for the Spectres. There was a huge difference between something like that and what Benezia had just tried to do to Liara. He only wished he had a clear shot at the treacherous Matriarch from his position…

Cole was ruining just about everyone's day. Counter-biotic combat did little to drain his supply of electricity, so he was in no danger of tiring out anytime soon. Firing a pair of rockets down one walkway, he turned to his right as another commando tried to hit him with a biotic throw. Hitting the field with his own shockwave, Cole sent the throw back with interest, blowing apart that entire corner of the room. As a geth sniper took position with an assassination strike, Cole beat it to the punch with a precision bolt, followed by a cluster grenade that blew it apart and scrapped the rest of its friends too. One more asari attempted to get in close from behind and finish him, only to watch as he spark-stepped behind _her_ and lifted her off the ground with by his gigawatt blades, frying her central nervous system. All that remained were a couple of commandos guarding Benezia herself. It didn't take a genius to figure out who got dibs there.

Alex walked forward menacingly. Liara could only watch as he looped his right arm over, behind, and around one commando's neck, snapping it with an upward tug. The other huntress put her rifle to his head and pulled the trigger, not letting go until the gun overheated. The headless humanoid merely thrust his claws through the blue warrior's chest, consuming her on the spot. Reforming his hooded face, the virus stepped up to Benezia, ignored her every biotic attack completely, grabbed her by the throat, and pinned her to the wall hard enough to crack the glass.

She didn't struggle, but she remained unafraid. "Well? What are you waiting for, abomination? You know how to find the answers you seek." When Alex didn't respond, she goaded him again. "Even if you kill me for the answers I possess, it won't change a thing. Saren is unstoppable. Who knows? Maybe you'll realize as well that if you consumed me."

Dropping the Matriarch on the floor, Alex snarled. "Do you think that I'm actually gonna do that to you with your _daughter_ standing fifteen feet away? It'll traumatize Liara for the rest of her life!" He stepped back and pointed at Cole. "This guy can make you talk regardless of loyalty. I'm just here to know why don't even care about your own child!"

Only now did the pair of Supernovas notice a flickering in Benezia's eyes. It was a very familiar symptom to them from their jobs in Revan's territory that implied the subject was attempting to resist mental conditioning or brainwashing. Now that Alex thought about it, she had been showing all the signs of mind control. The deadness of her voice, the robotic movements, the fanatical loyalty to Saren, and the major lack of reaction to a crushing defeat all indicated that her will was being dominated by another's. They had to act fast, or they'd lose her completely.

"Hey!" Cole yelled. "We can see you struggling in there! Come out and talk to us," he raised a sparking hand. "Or I'm coming in!"

"No…" the Matriarch moaned. "You will not make me betray him… I…" Her eyes snapped open and her movements instantly became fluid, yet rushed rushed. She didn't have long.

With a broken, yet commanding, tone, Benezia got right to the point. "I don't know how you could tell, but you were right. I can fight his compulsions briefly, having sealed away a part of my mind for the right moment, but the indoctrination is strong."

Alex's head exploded with pain at the mention of indoctrination. "Yep," he rasped. "We're _definitely_ on the right track. Now what the hell is 'indoctrination'?"

Benezia's face became somber. "People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him." She raised her hands to hold off questions. "The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size, and its power is extraordinary."

Working through the pain that came with the ship's name, Alex formed another question. "That's the massive metal cuttlefish from Eden Prime, right? What's so special about it?"

"Thoughts echo strangely within Sovereign. Its rooms are built at unsettling angles." Benezia took on an expression that clearly showed remembering every wretched moment she spent on that ship. "The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you." She smiled with zero true happiness. "It is subtle at first. I had thought myself strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve."

The Matriarch shook her head, trying to get back on track with what little time was left. "Saren sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

Alex chuckled darkly, putting all the pieces together. "The ancient rachni knew its location." He gestured to the specimen contained in the middle of the room. "The queens are given the genetic memory of their predecessors. They're susceptible to biotics, and you took what you needed from its mind by force. I'm all too familiar with that last bit." He extended his hand. "We need that information Benezia. It's now or never."

Stumbling like somebody that hadn't walked on their own for ages, Benezia handed the OSD to Alex. The virus passed it back to Garrus, since he ran the smallest risk of damaging it in a fight.

Cole remained thoughtful. "The relay is a good start, but it hardly narrows down his plans, to say nothing about his destination."

The asari Matriarch sighed apologetically. Saren wouldn't tell me where he was going from there. But you must act quickly, as I had already transmitted that information to him before you arrived."

Then it happened. The flicker was back, and Benezia's expression became conflicted. It was the sign that resisting the mind control – or indoctrination in this case – was about to become an effort in futility. "Ahh! His teeth are at my ear! Fingers on my spine! You should… Ah! You should…" She was grasping her head in confusion and pain.

Liara couldn't take it anymore. "Mother! I… Please don't leave me! Fight him!"

The Matriarch turned to her daughter with a look of unconditional love. "You have _always_ made me proud, Liara."

Alex tensed. A declaration like that wasn't a good sign at all. "Cole, do it!"

In perfect imitation of Kessler, the conduit was on Benezia in a second. Bringing his right hand up to grab her by the face, Cole forced his way in, just like his future self had done so often. Digging into the asari's mind, he searched her nervous system for a way to break this "indoctrination" crap. He didn't have to look very hard.

He felt the last vestiges of Benezia's free will get dragged beneath a mountain of interference. Cole had a hard time believing that a _ship_ was causing this. Then he heard it echo throughout her head. That sound from Eden Prime.

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN!**_

With milliseconds to spare, Cole released a jolt in the direction of that noise and hoped for the best. Kessler had always been better at this…

The force of being kicked out of Benezia's mind was strong enough to knock Cole flat on his ass in the physical world. Looking around, Benezia was just standing there, but there was a final wave of enemies looking for a fight.

Cole grinned. "Alex!" he called. The virus looked at him. "Back to back!"

Nodding, Alex motioned for everyone to gather by the unresponsive Matriarch, while he and Cole stood outside the central chamber and faced opposite sides of the hallway. Cole gathered a veritable storm in his hand, and Alex focused his biomass for a devastator.

When all forces had made it into their lines of fire, they unleashed hell. Cole hit them with Kessler's trademark lightning pillar, a massive stream of white electricity. In the other direction, Alex fired off his critical pain devastator, a combination of compressed air and biomass. Their opponents ceased to exist.

That just left the mother. She had obviously fallen back under the effects of indoctrination, and there was no reasoning with her this time. As much as it pained him to do this in front of Liara, Alex struck the Matriarch with the flat of his blade, crushing most of her vitals.

Benezia just lay there. "I cannot sustain myself any longer. I'll remain a prisoner to indoctrination as long as I live, so let me die free." Glaring at Alex with all the imposing authority the Matriarch had possessed before joining Saren, she said, "Take care of my daughter, Alexander J. Mercer. I can say in this moment of clarity that she means more to me than anything."

Liara began to cry again. "Mother…"

Benezia sighed, "Goodnight, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn." And that was the end.

As Liara cried out in agony, nobody said a word. Cole was ashamed that he had failed to stop whatever was crawling inside her head. Alex didn't know what to feel. He wasn't good at remorse, and he didn't know whether to comfort Liara or give the girl space from the monster that killed her mother.

Suddenly, one of the dead commandos was walking by them, jerking about like a marionette on a string. Everyone except Alex flipped out. The virus knew that the Queen wished to speak with them.

The twitching asari spoke in a voice that was almost poetic. "This one… serves as our… voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are… colorless."

As the only other hive mind in the room, Alex did the talking, but not through normal means. Placing one hand before the asari's eyes, much like Greene had once done to him, he formed a link with her that made words unnecessary. Out of respect, Alex and the queen continued to speak loud enough for the rest of the squad to hear. She told them her story.

She told them about how Binary Helix stole her children to breed them for war. Such an act would only drive them mad without the queen's "singing" to calm them down. All those rachni in the hot labs were little more than really smart animals, and as such, they needed to die. Luckily, Cole had made arrangements back while Ventralis was dying slowly…

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Hot Labs_

"Last one out, get the lights!" Ryan yelled. He'd just authorized the neutron purge, and there was no way in _hell_ he was making a run for that elevator. Flipping off the dozens of rachni that were about to swarm him, the Splicer King teleported back to the _Normandy_, and the whole damn place burnt worse than Vault 87.

* * *

_Noveria_

_Peak 15_

_Rift Station_

_Rachni Queen Room_

Of course, that still left the queen herself. She told them of how the ancient rachni never meant to fight, but rather, their music was drowned out by a sour yellow note. So what did that mean for her? "What will you sing?" She asked. "Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

Everyone in the room was shouting their opinions immediately. "Quiet!" Alex screamed. "I'm just as dangerous as her. If I so chose, I could unleash an unstoppable infection. If you had the chance, would you kill _me_ if I were in that tube? Or would you trust me not to bring the universe to its knees?" Nobody said a word. "That's what I thought. And don't worry Wrex. If this comes back to bite me in the ass, I'll kill them all myself. You know I can."

This seemed to satisfy all parties, and before dropping to the ground, the asari promised peace, isolation, and songs of Alex's compassion. That last one irked him. He really _was_ going soft.

The queen's containment chamber rose, and with a last look at her savior, she took off for Noveria's wilderness and parts unknown.

So much had happened in so little time that nobody felt the need to say a word. But the moment they were back on the tram, Liara broke down completely, clutching Alex's "jacket" like her life depended on it. Glaring at the rest of the room's occupants, _daring_ them to say anything, he awkwardly put a hand on her back. He slowly rubbed it, knowing from memories that definitely weren't his own that this would comfort her in her pain and loss.

They stayed like this all the way back to Port Hanshan.

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Nostalgia_

"_I knew Alex would let the Rachni Queen live." The Commander said to Revan._

"_No you didn't." the "fallen" Jedi replied. "You were worried the entire time."_

_The Unique didn't deny it. "At the very least, I hope they have better luck with that bug down the road…"_

_Revan laughed. "As do I, my friend."_

* * *

**Yeah, if it seems rushed at the end, it's because I got fed up with trying to keep Benezia alive. If I did, so much would go wrong down the road. Not only that, but I can't really imagine the scene going any other way, and I wanted to give Ryan that little moment of humor/awesome. Feros won't be nearly as rushed when we get there. It'll put this arc to shame in all categories**

**Hope you guys keep with me! Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	21. Steps Toward Redemption

**Time for a couple announcements.**

**Guest Reviewer: You asked why Cole didn't just heal Benezia. The answer is twofold. First, Benezia admitted that she would never be free of the indoctrination, which was proven when Cole got kicked right out of her mind. If they kept her alive, she would have remained under Saren's control. Second, his ability to heal injuries and cure diseases only works so well. (inFAMOUS spoilers ahead) Cole wasn't able to save Trish when she was dropped off the roof of that building by Kessler. Benezia got hit by the flat side of **_**Alex **__**Mercer's**_** blade. No matter how you look at it, she was doomed. This was quick and merciful compared to the slow rot of indoctrination.**

**Next, I want to warn you that the beginning of this chapter is **_**very**_** complex. You finally get to see why Cole is always so pissed with Ryan. I just needed a situation with somebody else in the room to warrant an explanation. Since Alex figured out a little of it two chapters ago, he's the lucky winner. It's heavy stuff, and I promise not to do it again for a long while.**

**Also, I know that Chief isn't getting enough screen time. That changes next chapter, I promise. He'll get serious action moments on Feros too, making up for his absence in the two previous priority missions. Stay strong Halo fans! Master Chief has not been forgotten.**

**Summary: Things get tense after the debrief, and not just because the Council wants to be antagonistic. Alex, Cole, and Ryan must clear the air before anything gets done. The truths revealed show how morally gray the life of a Supernova truly is. Afterwards, the crew makes a trip to the Century System on an assignment that proves personal to the Splicer King. Can Ryan handle the situation properly? Or was Major Kyle right to call him the "Butcher of Torfan" all along?**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Bioshock series (****especially**** Infinite), Prototype, Halo, Fallout, and KotOR II. I also drop three names, but since they are spoiler-free, you'll have to read to find out who they are.**

**I REPEAT: THERE ARE MAJOR BIOSHOCK INFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD.**

**Disclaimer: Again with this? No, I don't own the things you see on this page.**

* * *

Steps Toward Redemption

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Two hours since departure from Port Hanshan_

"What's our next move, Commander?" Ashley wanted to get going. "Head for the Mu Relay?"

Before Ryan could get a word in, Alex provided some insight with his usual tact. "Bad idea. The Mu Relay is deep in the Terminus. And I'd imagine it links to quite a few other systems there as well. So unless we want to go door to door, asking ruthless warlords if they've seen a two-kilometer long cuttlefish, I suggest we find out more first."

Liara added in her two credits. "Alex is correct. Rushing in blind would be foolish. We need to find out more about Saren."

Kaidan leaned back in his seat. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that call go to the _Spectres_?"

This time, Ryan was interrupted by Cole. "Yeah it does, and I have to agree. Saren probably knows we're onto him by now, which means he'll try to hurry things up. When he does, we'll know about it and then show up to ruin his day."

Master Chief nodded. He had no commentary. He was just there so Cortana could finally learn more about the issues between Cole and Ryan. Also, the Spartan was the only one to have a military career before this job, and he refused to let their grudge bring dishonor to the uniform.

The Splicer King kept calm, likely because he knew he was in for it later. "I'll go with the majority vote on this one." Looking up at the ceiling, he called to their pilot, "Joker, plot a course for the Century System." Turning his gaze back to the squad, he said, "Crew, dismissed."

"Plotting the course now, Commander." Joker called in as the team filed out, leaving the four Supernovas in the room. "The Noveria report's away already. Should I patch you through to the Council? Maybe tell them to call an exterminator?" They knew he was only half joking. Cole took center stage, and gave Joker the go-ahead. This had been primarily his mission, after all.

The familiar holographic images appeared, and Tevos immediately got to the point. "MacGrath, is this report accurate? You found _rachni_ on Noveria?"

Sparatus was furious. "And you released the _queen_?! Do you have any idea what you've done? How many generations until they overrun the galaxy?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "I don't hear anyone asking you how many generations it will take for the krogan to go extinct."

Sparatus glared. "Why are you even part of this conversation? You're-"

"The one you should blame for releasing the queen," Alex said with zero worry. "If you'd like to make an issue of this, I'm more than happy to oblige. If I wanted to, I could be a much greater threat to galactic civilization than a few bugs. For now, I suggest focusing on Saren and letting me handle the rachni if they show their faces again."

Sparatus sighed. "You'll forgive me if that doesn't do much to put my mind at ease. Commander, I hope you'll run a tighter ship in the future."

"Just a damn minute!" Cole yelled. "You put me on this mission too. Ryan was there to help with Synthetic Insights, reactivate a VI, and to blow up the Hot Labs. Everything else is on me, and I happen to agree with my associate. Genocide solves nothing." He paused for a moment, forcing the memories of the RFI to the back of his mind. "Besides, if you read that part in the report about Benezia's indoctrination and compare it with the 'yellow note' that sent the rachni to war, there are some remarkable similarities. Alex isn't a damn pet. He's smarter than any of you. Show us some respect, and maybe we'll reciprocate. Until then…" Cole made a cutting motion across his neck, signaling Joker to hang up. The pilot happily obliged.

Ryan sighed. Now that the formalities were done with, it was time to face the music. Confirming with the Chief - and by extension, Cortana - that nobody was listening in, he turned around. "So how did you get them back?"

"I froze to death in a blizzard before bringing a lightning storm down on my own head. Not that you care." There was venom in Cole's voice that Ryan hadn't heard since the conduit first learnt the truth.

Alex hissed. "So it's true, then?" In a deadly calm voice, the virus asked, "Were you on the Columbia job, and somehow you accidentally caused problems for us? Or was the whole damn shitstorm your fault?"

Cole just stood there, his expression hard as ice. "Tell him where you were that day, Ryan. Tell him what you were doing when everything went to hell."

Ryan held his face in his hands. "I… was on Rapture. The bird was there, and I combined what residual power was left from Elizabeth's mega-tear with the energy from Halla that allows us to travel. My actions opened up a timeline that no longer existed." He took a deep breath and said, "I created the Columbia Paradox. It was done on the authority of Uniques Revan, Kessler, Courier Six, and Jack Ryan."

Alex rounded on Cole. "You knew this, and you didn't tell me?" Seeing Cole's shock, Alex growled. "Right now I'm incredibly pissed with both of you! Ryan just admitted that he's the reason three Supernovas are comatose and you lost your powers. You, my best friend in this whole damn organization, never thought I deserved to know the truth? Cole, you know I'll always have your back. I don't handle betrayal like this very well, so I suggest you fill me in real quick."

Cole exploded. "If I told you, what would you have done?" The virus said nothing. The answer was obvious. "Nobody knew that any Supernova who came from a temporally distorted territory would be traumatically cut off."

Alex threw up his hands in frustration. "Then why do you hate him?"

Ryan answered that question. "Because my job was resource acquisition. It technically always has been. That exotic collection I'm rumored to possess caught the Uniques' attention. New Solara's organization doesn't survive on hope alone anymore. It's grown enough to need material assets. Some of our Supernovas, like Dante, Deadpool, and Red X, are in it for the money, and we can't just will that into existence. That's what they send me to do. Through assassination, espionage, political leverage, and other fairly unethical means, I manipulate the circumstances of territories until whatever the Uniques require becomes… available. And I'm damn good at it. Elizabeth left a back door to that flying city in my waters by killing the bird, so I used it to sneak in and strip one version of Columbia clean. Then a proper job to another Columbia in another timeline was ordered to stabilize the multiverse. We never expected so much could go wrong."

The virus snarled at the Splicer King. "I don't give a rat's ass about your little black ops escapades. I just want to know what it has to do with Cole."

Cole sighed. "Constants and variables. A man, a city, and a lighthouse. There's a _lighthouse_ off the coast of New Marais. Because my territory was unlucky enough to have a temporal distortion, it got connected to the rest of Elizabeth's network when Ryan forced open a tear that never existed. Ryan was long finished with his raid by the time we were deployed, so while we were busy on the Columbia Paradox job, he took the liberty of sneaking into my former home and copying the remaining blueprints for Dr. Wolfe's inventions, including ones for the Ray Sphere and the RFI."

Ryan closed his eyes and began to recite a speech that he clearly no longer believed. "I left your home completely untouched. There is no trace of my presence that indicates interference. Its timeline will proceed as normal."

Alex began to put the pieces together. "Ryan, who asked for the blueprints?"

"Unique Kessler did," Ryan answered weakly.

Cole sat back in one of the many chairs that lined the room. "Figure it out yet? Kessler knew he'd have to let me know the truth if he restored my powers. Hell, he wanted me to know, thinking I'd be more willing to act like Ryan. But he wanted insurance to keep me from taking action. So he held the threat of a Ray Sphere blast on an unspecified territory over my head unless I played nice, kept quiet, and remained… open to more extreme methods."

Ryan knew that Alex had pulled the punch before even feeling the impact. If it had been full strength, the Splicer King would have been decapitated.

"You son of a bitch!" Alex yelled. "First you ripped open a hole in the probability universe just to plunder a floating city. Then you left us to clean up your mess at an absurdly high cost. Finally, you put a weakened Cole directly underneath Kessler's thumb!"

Chief couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was just glad that nobody else on the ship could hear it. Cortana, however, was more vocal in her indignation. "Why Ryan? What could Kessler offer you to make you do that to Cole?"

Ryan shook his head to clear the disorientation. "I didn't realize that he was going to blackmail Cole until it was too late. I was told that Cole would likely lose his powers from the backlash of the Columbia Paradox job. Kessler said that the blueprints were the only hope of restoring his abilities. Then I find out later it was a lie."

"Please! You're hardly innocent here." Alex was appalled that Ryan had even tried to plead ignorance.

"And I've known that for quite some time." The self-loathing in his tone was more apparent than usual. "Of course, I planned for this exact discussion ever since you regained your cryokinetic talents earlier today." Ryan got up off the floor slowly. "As of an hour ago, my counterpart in the Uniques forced answers out of Kessler, and my 'sister' is dismantling the Ray Sphere he had created. We know he made another RFI too, but he refuses to give up its location until we finish our current job." The Rapture-spawn gave this a moment to sink in before saying, "You're in the clear, Cole. I can't even begin to describe how much I put in jeopardy by doing this for you. Call it a peace offering."

Alex cleared his throat. "That would be very touching, had you not done it to protect your own ass." He turned to the conduit. "Cole, since you were being coerced, I understand and accept why you didn't tell me anything." He extended his hand, and as Cole shook it, he grinned. "Of course, if you keep something like that from me again, I'll probably kill you." Facing the Splicer King, killer intent shining from beneath the hood, he whispered, "If they call me a monster, what does that make you?" With that, the virus stormed out of the room.

Cole gazed at Ryan with an indecipherable expression. "I appreciate what you did. I really do, but it will take some time to restore the faith we once had in you before Columbia. This job for Unique Shepard is the first, last, and only chance you'll get at redemption. You can count on us to do our parts, but if you want our trust again, then prove you can do the job _without_ ruining the lives of everyone around you. Especially the lives of innocents." Now it was the conduit's turn to leave, but he was much calmer than Alex in his movements. This had been a step in the right direction for sure.

Ryan sighed and turned to the Chief. "That went better than I could have possibly hoped."

Chief remained silent. This kind of thing was beyond him, and frankly, he wanted no part of it.

Cortana was a different story. "And here I thought ONI was bad. What would they need material assets for in Halla?"

Ryan chuckled humorlessly. "One big revelation at a time, Cortana. I'll talk about the rest later." That was the last thing he said before teleporting away, effectively ending all further discussion.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Med Bay back room_

_En route to Century System_

Liara heard the door open, and without turning around, she knew who it was. Ryan would have teleported into the room if he needed to speak to her, and anyone else made noise when they walked. Turning around to face Alex Mercer, she cut off the question she knew he would ask. "If you are here to talk about Benezia's death, you need not bother. She brought it upon herself."

Alex sighed. "The tears on my jacket say otherwise. You're in denial, Liara. It's an early stage of grief. You hadn't spoken to your mother in years. Now you'll never speak to Benezia again because she got mind-jacked by a turian and his oversized starship. That gave me pause, and I'm a sociopath. I'm not even supposed to care."

The asari's gaze softened. "But you do. Why?"

He frowned as Greene's voice echoed inside his mind. "Your mother tried to kill you instead of protecting you, and then we find out it wasn't even of her own will. Tell me what about that situation _isn't_ supposed to bother me."

Liara seemed almost disappointed with this response, and she turned away. "I suppose from that perspective, I can understand your concern."

Alex sighed. He knew where the asari maiden wanted the conversation to go; he wasn't an idiot. He just didn't know if he had the right to make that step. First of all, his last relationship was with a selfish, backstabbing nutcase who sold him out to Blackwatch. The literal pain that her betrayal caused him had obviously discouraged Alex to relationships. Then of course there was the matter of what Alex _was_. He looked human, and he had human emotions, but that didn't change the fact that he would simply never be human. At the risk of sounding shamelessly cliché, the final reason was complicated. As a Supernova, he was bound to leave this territory when the job was done. He couldn't start something with Liara that had no chance of ending happily. Of course, Alex wouldn't just leave her grieve alone either. Choosing his words carefully, the virus asked, "Seriously, Blue. Are you gonna be okay?"

Liara smiled a little. "I appreciate your concern, Alex, but I am fine, or at least, I will be. If anything, I am even more committed." She hardened her expression again. "My mother was Saren's accomplice, regardless of her intentions. Now I have a personal stake in bringing him down. I am with you until the very end."

Alex chuckled, confusing the asari. "That's good to hear. Benezia ordered me to keep you safe, and it would be awfully hard to do that if you left the _Normandy_."

Liara gasped. "Alex, I was not thinking of leaving! And you should not feel burdened with…" She noticed that the virus had the same grin as that time he joked about being dissected. "You are joking again, aren't you?"

"Did it help?"

She gave a small chuckle. "A little. Thank you."

Alex nodded. "Anytime." He got up to leave, but as he reached the door, he stopped. "She loved you." Liara turned around to see the hunter's piercing blue eyes staring directly at her, the hood unable to conceal them at this angle. He continued. "That last commando I consumed has memories of Benezia saying that she loved you. She had been keeping tabs on you, and she was impressed and pleased with the woman you've become." He held up his hands in a universal gesture of honesty. "Their words, not mine. I thought you had the right to know." With that, he left the room.

"Thank you, Alex," Liara managed to whisper as the doors shut behind him.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_En route to Century System_

Joker smirked as Ryan approached the helm. He had a good rapport with the Commander. Of course, it was likely because they shared something in common: Self loathing. He could tell from the way Ryan carried himself that the best – and craziest – N7 graduate in human history had it in spades. He knew this because the Spectre had that same look on his face as Joker himself every time the pilot looked in a mirror: More pain than anyone can understand carefully hidden behind the façade of a smartass.

Turning back to the haptic interface, Joker decided that a little comic relief was in order. "Boy am I glad to be off of Noveria. I don't know which was worse, the cold or the corporations." Ryan raised an eyebrow, waiting for the punch line. "One will freeze your balls off, and the other will sell 'em out from under you." Adjusting his tone to one of false professionalism, Joker added, "With all due respect, Commander."

Ryan gave a wry smile. "We can sic Cole on more corrupt businessmen and find out?"

Joker didn't even look away from the screens. "That gives a whole new meaning to 'frozen bank account,' Ryan."

The pilot heard a laugh, but before either could say anything more, they were alerted to a transmission coming in from Arcturus. Joker took a look. "It's Admiral Hackett. Looks like he wants to chat before we reach our destination."

Ryan was expecting this. There was no way that Major Kyle's activities would have gone unnoticed by the Alliance. Maybe the Fifth Fleet's prestigious leader could give him some more concrete information. "Patch him through, Joker."

Hackett's voice reverberated throughout the room. "Commander Ryan? This is Admiral Hackett. I have a fairly good idea of why you're in the Hawking Eta Cluster, but the situation is more complicated than you think."

Ryan chuckled. "Isn't it always?"

Where most officers would have gone ballistic, Hackett didn't even blink. He knew Ryan's behavior was a coping mechanism. "Ever since Torfan, Major Kyle hasn't been the same, but that much should be obvious. You already know he's set up a small compound in the Century System with a good number of biotic followers. What you probably don't know is that he's become an outspoken critic of the Alliance, and we believe that he's mentally unstable. It's getting ugly, Commander."

Ryan was now visibly intrigued, and suddenly feeling guilty. Was this what Cole meant by ruining lives? "We had differences of opinion at Torfan, but I didn't see anything like this coming. What's the latest intel?"

There was a pause. "Three days ago, we sent two Alliance representatives to meet with him at his compound. They've disappeared, and we believe Kyle and his followers killed them." Hackett paused again. "That compound is a _cult_, Ryan. Major Kyle is 'Father Kyle' now. He's set himself up as some sort of religious leader."

Ryan sighed. "What do you want me to do?" He already knew the answer, but he asked out of respect all the same.

The answer was simple enough. "We can't let things proceed as is in that compound, and Kyle needs to answer for the deaths of two Alliance officers. While he and his followers are dangerous, we'd prefer to keep bloodshed to a minimum. Still, you were with him that day on Torfan, so I'll defer to your judgment on the matter. Hackett out."

Ryan closed his eyes. "Damn it. Joker! Alert Kaidan, Tali, and Ashley. Tell them to prepare for a Mako the second we're in position above Pesrop." He didn't wait for a reply before teleporting to the armory.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_Orbiting Pesrop_

As they closed in on their destination, Ryan could only gaze in awe at the catastrophic damage scarring both Klendagon and its small moon. He hadn't seen such devastation since Malachor V…

"Commander," Ryan turned to see Ashley leaning out of the Mako. "I think you should get inside sooner than later."

Smirking, he said, "I'm taking the express route. You don't like my driving, so let's see you do better."

Tali's eyes practically shot out of her mask. "You're going to _jump_? I thought only Cole and Alex could do that!"

"Approaching the drop zone," Joker announced over the intercom.

"Commander, this is crazy! I know for a fact that you can't survive that fall," Kaidan shouted from inside the tank.

Ryan laughed. "When did I say that I was going to fall?" He donned his combat helmet and vanished into thin air, intending to rematerialize on the surface below.

Jumping into the driver's seat, Ashley swore. "I hate when he does that."

Tali nodded emphatically. "You think you hate it? Wait until he teleports you _with_ him."

Kaidan just chuckled as the Mako began its vertigo-inducing plunge.

* * *

_Pesrop_

_Two klicks from the compound_

Ryan watched while cloaked as his squad approached in the rover. He had to admit, Ashley drove fairly well, though she was less inclined to take risks behind the wheel than he was. With the grace and coordination provided by countless gene tonics, the Splicer King flipped onto the roof of the Mako as it sped by, turning visible once he landed.

"Damn!" Ashley shrieked. "How about a warning next time?"

"If I did that, you would have slowed down," Ryan chuckled. "We're not on a clock, but I'd rather keep this job short."

Kaidan took it upon himself to address the elephant in the Mako. "Commander, didn't you serve under Major Kyle back at Torfan?"

"I should have known this was coming," Ryan sighed.

Tali gasped. "This 'Father Kyle' used to be your commanding officer? What happened?"

Even though the wounds from his heart-to-heart with Alex and Cole were still fresh, he knew that the squad deserved the truth. He was keeping enough secrets from them as it was. "I served under an Alliance officer named Major Kyle. When I ordered the _SSV Boston_ to drop Cole and Alex onto the pirates' main stronghold, it demolished their forces. The Major was convinced I had committed wholesale slaughter, despite the fact that a conventional attack would have cost us far more lives. Now he sees nothing but evil in the Alliance because they endorsed my actions."

Ashley frowned. "So, why the biotics?"

Ryan sighed again. "He's looking for something – anything – that he can protect. These biotics are fanatical cultists. They want somebody to champion their cause, and 'Father Kyle' is the perfect man for the job."

Tali swallowed before carefully choosing her words. "What exactly are we here to do, Commander?"

The real question was transparent. She wanted to know how quickly Ryan would resort to violence. "Hopefully, we're here to get Major Kyle some help. If he's this far gone because of what I did on Torfan, then I'm the one who has to make it right." The hint of finality in Ryan's voice made it clear this conversation was over. Tali never really got a definitive answer, but she trusted the Commander. He was taking this assignment personally, and she would help him however he needed it.

* * *

_Pesrop_

_Compound Exterior_

There was a prefab building on Ryan's right, and the entrance to an underground bunker on the left. The bunker was locked down, giving Ryan the suspicion that Kyle was there instead of the prefab. He quickly formulated a plan. "Tali, while I keep them talking, I need you to access that bunker's schematic. Get me a layout of the interior. Kaidan, give her a hand to make sure they don't detect her sniffing around in the system. Ash, get back into the Mako, and prepare to fire if I give the signal."

Everyone took their places as Ryan marched up to the prefab's entrance console. "Pizza delivery. Double pepperoni." Even from this distance, he could hear Ashley cracking up inside the Mako.

An irritated voice responded. "This is a private sanctuary, and outsiders like you are not welcome. Leave now."

Ryan shrugged, unsure if they could even see him. "I'd love to, believe me. I hate cults. Unfortunately I'm not moving an inch that until I've spoken with Major Kyle."

"_Father_ Kyle wants nothing more to do with the Alliance," The cultist inside stated.

Ryan's eyes suddenly had a dangerous gleam. "Not even an old subordinate? Tell him that the 'Torfan Tactician' is here.

"If you were truly the Butcher of Torfan that Father Kyle speaks of then why are we still alive? You would have murdered us all by now." Apparently, they thought he was bluffing.

Ryan looked at the pair of techs, who indicated they needed just a little more time to finish their work. Drawing on his "father's" penchant for grandiose speeches, the Splicer King went to town.

"You want proof that the 'Butcher of Torfan' is standing before you? Alright. My name is Commander Jack Ryan. Call sign: "Rapture". In less than a month, I went from nobody to N7. I can cross great distances with a thought. My hands can burn, freeze, or electrocute anything that gets in my way. I am capable of invisibility without any cloaking technology. I carry platinum hooks that are soaked with the blood of my enemies, and I wear an armored jacket instead of full combat gear. My brute strength can match, or even surpass, that of a krogan, yet I will spend most of a firefight flipping and dodging. I am responsible for destroying the batarians' will to fight at Torfan by dropping the two most dangerous men in the universe on their stronghold from the upper atmosphere, taking hundreds – if not thousands – of lives." Tali and Kaidan had finished, so now was the time to drive it home. "Ask your 'Father Kyle' if he remembers that day. It sounded something like this!"

Ryan signaled for Ashley to fire on the ground outside the bunker's entrance. She obliged, hitting far enough away to avoid damage, but close enough to make a point.

"Wait! Please, wait!" the cultist screamed over the intercom. There was a long period of silence. "Father Kyle will speak with you, Butcher." Before Ryan could begin to smirk, the voice continued. "You are to enter the bunker alone. You will leave your weapons and allies behind. Those are the terms." The line went dead.

"That's nuts!" Ashley cried out in disbelief. "They can't expect us to just stay here while you walk into a compound filled with biotic maniacs led by an even bigger maniac!"

Ryan didn't say a word as he looked at the schematics Tali gave him. Turning to Kaidan, the Gunnery Chief motioned with her eyes for the Lieutenant to talk some sense into their CO. Getting the message, the sentinel tried his luck. "Commander, while we all respect your abilities, even you need to think twice before walking into that place alone and unarmed."

A few moments passed, and their Commander was still just standing there in silence. Tali was about to see if she could make any contribution, but Ryan suddenly snapped out of his trance. He turned to face Ashley and Kaidan and depolarized the reflective visor on his helmet. "First of all, I didn't plan on 'walking' into that compound at all. That's why I needed Tali to get these schematics. Now I have enough knowledge of my destination to make a safe teleportation." He looked to the quarian and grinned. "Good job, by the way." Even though Ryan could read her body language easily, Tali felt a small victory knowing that he couldn't see her blushing at his praise.

Ryan returned his attention to the pair of marines. "Second," he lit his hand on fire. "I am _never_ unarmed." He gazed at all of them, eyes filled with determination. "You've accomplished your parts. Trust me to do the rest. If it makes you feel better, I'll let you see the video feed from my helmet once I return. I'd let you watch it all live, but this place has heavy metals like Agebinium." With that, he pulled out his shotgun and pistol, handing them to Ashley and Kaidan, respectively. Taking his hooks, he held them out in front of Tali. "Take care of these things. They're worth their weight in gold to me."

She nodded, and carefully took them from his grasp. Ryan never ceased to amaze. He trusted a quarian with personal belongings, which was more than could be said for most of the galaxy.

Ryan repolarized the visor. "Get back to the _Normandy_. If you don't hear from me in half an hour, tell Joker to drop Alex with extreme prejudice." And then their Commander was gone from sight.

Ashley groaned. "I swear, Lieutenant. The Commander's gonna be the death of me at this rate."

Ashley and Kaidan made their way back to the Mako, grumbling all the while. Tali remained behind for a moment, looked at the spot Ryan had vacated, and said quietly, "Keelah se'lai, Captain."

* * *

_Pesrop_

_Compound Interior_

_Father Kyle's chambers_

Displacing the air with a shattering sound, Ryan appeared directly in front of his former CO with a flourish. The two cultists standing to either side began to flare their biotics.

"No, children," the mad Major called out, stopping them instantly. His gaze settled on the Splicer King. "You always did love showing off, Ryan. Of all the people the Alliance would send, it just had to be the Butcher of Torfan."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Nice to see you too, Major. You know I wouldn't be here if the other officers the Alliance sent were still… y'know, alive."

Kyle stared right through the Splicer King. "They wanted to take me away from here. They wanted me to abandon this place. Turn my back on my family. They spoke blasphemy!" His expression softened, but retained its madness. "I did what I could to make their end quick and painless. I had no other choice. It was necessary to protect my children. Only I can keep them safe."

"Damn," Ryan said. "Now I remember exactly why I hate cults. Look, Major. That 'blasphemy' was an attempt to get you the help you need. I'm here for the same reason, only the accommodations won't be nearly as comfy since two good men are dead because of you."

Kyle laughed. It wasn't a nice sound. "This is coming from a mass murderer who claims to be a hero? I respect that you've chosen to exercise diplomacy, but I cannot do as you ask." His voice took on an even more insane tone. "If you take away their father, my children will be helpless."

Those last few words instantly flooded Ryan's mind with memories of all the Big Daddies both he and the original Jack Ryan had killed in Rapture. They died trying to protect the Little Sisters. Those brainwashed girls actually considered the hulking creatures to be their fathers, and the Big Daddies returned the sentiment. Hearing "Father Kyle" speak like this brought it all back. Taking away "Mr. B" most certainly left the green-eyed children utterly helpless.

Forcing the memories away, Ryan found the words to end this whole matter in seconds. "Let me tell you something, Major. I have a ship of my own now. Those two people I dropped from the _Boston_? They're on it. All I have to do is step outside and give the word. It'll be Torfan all over again."

"No!" Kyle moaned, clutching his head. "You can't do that. Not to my children!"

Ryan spoke with a gentler voice now. "I don't _want_ to do it, Kyle. But unless you come with me, I have no other choice."

This got the message across, but not without a snag. "If my children see you taking me away, they won't understand. They will attack, and you'll be forced to kill them all. Please, give me one hour to explain everything to my children. After that, I will meet the Alliance authorities at the gates of my compound and surrender without violence. I give you my word."

Ryan stared long and hard at the pale shade of the Major Kyle he once knew. He weighed the pros and cons of accepting these terms before nodding. "Don't betray me Major," he warned. "Unlike me, Alex actually enjoys being a butcher." Eager to put all of this behind him, Ryan teleported straight back to the _Normandy_.

He needed a drink.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Galaxy Map_

_One hour later_

"Message coming in from the _SSV Hong Kong_. It looks like they've secured Major Kyle," Joker announced. "Patching it through."

"Commander Ryan? This is Captain Wallcroft of the _Hong Kong_. You've saved a lot of lives today, and we'll be able to get Major Kyle some help. Admiral Hackett said you were good, but I didn't think this assignment could be done without bloodshed."

Ryan smirked. "You could have just asked that N7 engineer you've got serving on your ship, Captain. She'd tell you the same thing as the Admiral, albeit unwillingly. How's Commander Riley doing?"

Wallcroft laughed. "She's doing well. She wanted me to tell you that she likes the helmet, whatever that means."

Ryan laughed, recalling the prototype Death Mask he'd gotten for Commander Lee Riley back at N-School. She had earned it by being the one tech in the entire program to hack security faster than the Splicer King.

"Good to hear, Captain Wallcroft. Ryan out." He turned away from the galaxy map, seeing Cole nod in approval. He was about to say something when another message came in.

"Ryan, this is Hackett. The _Hong Kong_ is staying in position for a little longer. We're not asking the _Normandy_ to assist, but if you could let us borrow the Master Chief's… unique skills, we'd appreciate it."

Ryan frowned. "Where will you be taking him, sir?"

"The Sol System. Luna to be precise. Something's come up that's right up the Chief's alley."

* * *

**Oh yes. You know what's coming. Read, Review, and Enjoy.**


	22. Smart Enough to Signal for Help

**I have just now realized how bloody long my story already is. Hopefully you guys will stick with me, because there's plenty more to go.**

**I promised you Chief action, and here he is. **

**One note before that: There is a scene with Alex Mercer in this chapter that was influenced in part by another author's work: Hyliian wrote an amazing crossover between Prototype and Mass Effect, called **_**Consuming Direct Control**_**, and I suggest reading it.**

**Summary: One Supernova short, the **_**Normandy**_** crew runs an errand for Rear Admiral Kahoku. Meanwhile, Master Chief and Cortana get sent to deal with a "rogue VI" on Luna, which puts up a surprisingly good fight.**

**Spoiler Warning: Mass Effect, Prototype, Bioshock, inFAMOUS series, and Halo series (including all books). While not a spoiler, one of the new features from Prototype 2 also shows up here.**

**Disclaimer: I tried to buy all this stuff, but they didn't find my offer acceptable. So I don't own anything.**

* * *

Smart Enough to Signal for Help

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_En route to Sparta System_

Ryan wasn't happy to let the Chief leave on the _Hong Kong_, but upon learning more from Hackett, he saw it was for the best. Besides, with no current leads on Saren, now was as good a time as any to complete some of the other assignments that they had come across. In particular, the Splicer King wanted to do that favor that Kahoku had wanted. They were on the way to track down his missing marines, who dropped out of contact on Edolus. It sounded simple enough, but Ryan knew that simple just wasn't in a Supernova's job description.

To pass the time, Ryan went to check on Garrus. The turian had been on edge since leaving Noveria. He'd noticed a little tension while they had been blowing away dirty ERCS guards, and it seemed even worse when they got back. Gently opening up conversation, Ryan was able to get that it was about Garrus' father, a prestigious – but inflexible – C-Sec agent in his day. Between the dirty cops and the encounter with Benezia, the very reason that Garrus' relationship with the elder Vakarian was strained had come back to the surface.

The turian explained to Ryan that his father had hated the Spectres for their autonomy, and he even kept Garrus from potentially being one. The fact that his son was now serving on a ship with two human Spectres only worsened things.

Ryan though for a moment, taking all this in. "I suppose I get why he'd dislike me. His fear of you – or me – becoming like Saren is warranted. That's the temptation of being above the law. And not that it's sitting in front of me, I'll admit it's hard to resist."

Garrus sighed, mandibles twitching. "But you know that Saren's not going to play by our rules. By C-Sec's rules. If you want to nail Saren you need to send someone who isn't restricted by policies and procedures."

Ryan should have seen this coming. It was scary how much Garrus wanted to toss the rulebook out the airlock. The Splicer King wasn't a hypocrite. He knew that his past was soaked in enough blood to make even Saren nauseous, but that wasn't by choice. His current job for Unique Shepard was different. For once, Ryan had the luxury of morals, and he was going to make the most of it. Time to make sure Garrus did the same.

"Alright, listen. Here's a human expression for you, Garrus: 'He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster.' If Saren's the monster, then those policies and procedures are all that keeps us from becoming just as bad, if not worse."

"I… understand, Commander." Clearly Garrus didn't like hearing this, but he took it to heart all the same.

Ryan nodded, then went to see how Tali was doing. She seemed to be acclimatizing, but he needed his combat mechanic alert and ready. Plus, she still had his hooks. Ryan wondered how he'd forgotten about that as he walked into engineering.

* * *

_SSV Hong Kong_

_Escape Pod Hallway_

_Approaching Luna_

Commander Riley stood beside the Master Chief, sizing up the enormous armored man. She'd never seen tech like that before in her life. He looked like he could bench press a Grizzly tank. As honored as she was to be standing by one of humanity's finest, Riley would be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared.

Almost as if he'd read her mind, the green giant muttered, "You're afraid." It wasn't a question.

"Footage has you destroying batarians, turians, and a krogan without even _trying_. Forgive me if I'm a little nervous," Riley tried to keep from sounding defensive, but was she really that transparent?

"Don't be. We're on the same team." The Chief didn't say another word as he stepped into the repurposed escape pod and prepared to drop onto Luna.

Riley did a quick scan, and her eyes widened. "Master Chief! The pod's deceleration equipment is at minimal capacity! You won't slow down enough for a safe landing."

The massive soldier tilted his head, as if it was obvious. "That's the point." He shut the pod's inner door and hit the switch, launching himself toward the surface below.

The N7 engineer just shook her head. "Damn, Ryan. Here I was thinking you were crazy."

* * *

_Luna_

_Surface_

_Five klicks from the training complex_

Cortana huffed. "I happen to _like_ crazy."

"Yeah," Master Chief replied, stepping out of the escape pod's wreckage. "You've said that a few times in the past."

Fully equipped with Spectre Master Gear, courtesy of the late Elanos Haliat's bank account, the Spartan began to head in the direction of the three training facilities at a rapid pace. He only had ninety minutes of oxygen in his suit, but the distance wasn't a concern. It was the six rocket turrets defending the bunkers that had him running.

Against a target moving over thirty five mph with reflexes too fast to record, the painfully slow rockets didn't have a chance of scoring a hit. As Chief pulled out his sniper rifle, Cortana remotely accessed the gun's assassination feature, allowing for her Spartan to use it indefinitely. While it still didn't make him as good a marksman as Linda-058, it was just what the Chief needed to punish the turrets before they could get a clear shot.

Naturally though, it got worse after the first turret went down. "Chief, I think the VI is onto us. The remaining heavy turrets are using suppressive fire in a coordinated effort. They're firing at you and in the directions you're likely to dodge. If you try the run-and-gun approach again, the results may not be pretty."

The Master Chief continued to scope down the closest of the remaining turrets. Just as a rocket was leaving its barrel, he fired, detonating the projectile inside the turret. The explosion tore the cannon to shreds. "Can't you hack any of these things?"

"I could try, but you'll need to get closer."

Chief sidestepped another rocket before responding. "What? You never needed proximity to hack into the Covenant battlenet."

He apparently said something stupid, because the Spartan could almost feel the smart AI rolling her eyes in his head. "There's a world of difference between hacking communications and remotely controlling automated defenses. It's a battle of signal strength, and at this distance, your armor's got the weaker signal. Get within this radius," a moderately large circle appeared on his HUD, surrounding the two remaining bunkers with turrets. "And I'll set the turrets against each other."

The hyper-lethal vector sighed and holstered the sniper rifle. "How long would that take once I'm in range?"

"A second or two at most. Got a plan, Chief?"

Her Spartan took a moment to lock down his armor. As three rockets slammed into the overcharged shields, he said, "This is a training facility."

"Yes, Chief," Cortana answered suspiciously. "We've established that."

"Do you remember the last time we dealt with live fire at a training facility?" he asked.

"Chief…" Cortana warned. She remembered that day _very_ well."

"I think they clocked me at sixty-five mph," Master Chief continued, completely unconcerned.

"You tore your Achilles tendon!"

"Then it's a good thing we're on the moon," he countered.

Only milliseconds after disengaging the armor lock, the Spartan was already thundering across the ground. Even the standard variant of MJOLNIR Mk VI armor had excellent EVA features, allowing performance in low-gravity environments – like Luna – with minimal effects to mobility. The turrets fired their payloads, but they all missed horribly. The firing solution was perfect, but the Chief was too unpredictable, and even coordinated fire was useless. He simply wasn't where the VI anticipated. Even the few rockets that would have actually scored hits missed by several meters since their target could pull off a ninety degree turn instantly, regardless of momentum.

It wasn't a matter of skill, though Master Chief certainly didn't lack that. This was the culmination of thirty-eight years of work by some of the best minds in the UNSC. The SPARTAN-II program and Project MJOLNIR combined had turned a six-year-old into an unmatched soldier.

Cortana was no slouch either. The moment her Spartan had drawn close enough, Cortana was already taking control of the turrets. AI or not, she couldn't help but feel satisfaction as the four turrets opened fire on one another, leaving the training facility's exterior free of hostiles.

"That was fun," Cortana joked. "Shall we?"

The Chief said nothing, but pulled out his shotgun and headed to the first of the three bunkers. They were just getting started.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Hangar_

_Orbiting Edolus_

Alex and Cole watched as Ryan teleported to the planet's surface and the rest of his team dropped in the Mako. They had found the last known location of Kahoku's men. Or at least, they found a distress beacon on the planet where his men were sent. Now the Splicer King was taking his own squad to investigate it.

"This is insane," Cole muttered. "That distress beacon is obviously a trap."

Alex snorted. "Apparently, that's the plan. Ryan wants to spring the trap and drop me on whatever shows up. It's smart when you think about it."

Cole raised an eyebrow. "Then why bring a squad too?"

The virus sighed. "Because we don't have enough intel. He needs to sell the image of a team that's actually investigating, so he brought Ashley, Tali, and Garrus."

"Alex," the conduit said. "Do you know what happens when you kick the hornets' nest on purpose?" When the virus didn't respond, Cole continued. "You get stung."

* * *

_Luna_

_VI Bunker One_

The first thing that Master Chief noticed was that the bunker had breathable air, taking him off the clock. The second thing he noticed was that the place was painfully quiet. The super soldier had been around long enough to know it wouldn't stay that way. Of course, with nine hostiles showing up on radar, it didn't hurt to add a little stealth into the mix. Engaging his armor's limited active camouflage, the Spartan made his way towards the main room.

Opening the door, he pulled out his sniper again and waited. Sure enough, an advanced assault drone soon hovered into view. Reacting instantly, the Chief pulled the trigger and blew the drone apart. If a normal team of soldiers had done this, the other eight drones would have surged on their position and torn them to shreds. But the interesting thing about active camo was that it not only cloaked the user, but it threw the radar of anyone nearby into chaos. This only slightly hindered the Chief, since he had excellent peripheral vision, instantaneous reflexes, and assistance from a smart AI. The drones weren't so lucky. They relied on front-facing optics and radar detectors to locate enemies.

Against an invisible foe that had jammed their radars, the drones may as well have been fighting a ghost. Of course, this wasn't stopping them from combing the room for any possible targets.

Master Chief had not been idle while the drones were looking for him. These floating tripods shared many similarities to the sentinels from the Halo rings, but there was one crucial difference. Preparation. Unlike his battles with the Forerunners' machines, he had come to Luna knowing that he'd be fighting drones and arming himself accordingly.

Crouched in a corner, holding a shotgun fitted with tungsten mods, the Spartan tossed an HE grenade at a cluster of four drones. The explosion took out the whole group, and nanoseconds later, the Chief was on his feet, firing at the closest drone he could find. Specialized rounds ripped apart the thing like just as much tissue paper, and the Master Chief's active camo had only just begun to fade.

The four remaining drones got clever, two approaching from the left, and two from the right. However, against the superior energy shields of Mark VI MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, it may as well have been a barrage of spitballs. Chief went to town on the pair to the right, while Cortana hacked one on the left to attack its ally. The Spartan finished off his targets a few seconds before the hacked drone did, and with nothing else in the room to shoot, it just hovered there.

"Exactly what's so 'advanced' about these advanced assault drones?" Cortana wondered. Rather than respond, her armored companion merely punted the thing into the far wall, shattering it on impact. "And that's why nobody lets you play gravball. Come on, the VI conduits are in the two back rooms."

As he walked down the hallway, Chief asked, "Are we pulling the plug or plugging you in?"

"We're pulling the plug on this bunker and the second one. Then, when everything is being routed through the third bunker, I'll directly access the VI mainframe. What happens after that depends on what I find." Her tone was cryptic, but still playful. "I find it hard to believe this thing just 'went rogue' without any warning or cause."

Reaching the back rooms, the Master Chief aimed his shotgun at one of the VI conduits and pulled the trigger. As the junction exploded, his HUD began displaying readouts of toxic gas being vented into the bunkers. Obviously it was another defense, and it had put him back on his armor's oxygen supply. Deciding to hurry up at this point, the Chief made a one-eighty and took aim at the second VI conduit.

"Chief…" Cortana had come to a horrifying realization, but was interrupted by the explosion of the second junction. The Spartan was making his way to the third quickly, eager to finish the job.

"Chief!" Cortana yelled.

"Yeah?" he replied, still continuing with the task at hand, now having blown up the third junction. Not hearing Cortana say anything more, he turned around and pointed his shotgun at the fourth VI conduit.

"JOHN STOP!"

John-117 didn't move a muscle. She practically never called him by that name. "Okay, I've stopped. Now what's wrong, Cortana?" He honestly had no idea what he had done wrong. Wasn't this their assignment?

"Chief," she began, her voice barely more than a whisper. "It's alive." The Spartan almost fell down at this announcement. "We're not destroying some 'rogue VI' here. We're killing a synthetic life form that is just now gaining sentience!"

Deliberating for a full minute, the Spartan pointed his shotgun at the VI conduit again and pulled the trigger.

"What are you doing, Chief?!" Cortana screamed.

"You said that the only way to get answers was to make it route everything through the third bunker, right? Then that's what we'll do. It's the only way to find out what's really going on here." The commando paused for a moment before adding, "It's not right, but it's all we've got."

Cortana sighed. "Then let's go. I'll see what I can grab from these data ports as you shut the place down, but any real answers won't come until we hit bunker three."

They silently cleared out the other back room, each explosion bringing more gas into the bunker. On the way out, the Spartan had another question. "If it's sentient, doesn't that mean we'll be facing increased resistance at the next two bunkers? It will have something like a self preservation instinct, right?"

"Roughly speaking, yes," Cortana bitterly replied. "Its aggression will increase as we continue to kill it." More to herself than to her Spartan, she muttered, "And rightly so…"

As they headed for the surface, the Chief growled. "This is about rampancy, isn't it? I've told you not to worry about it. It's my job to take care of you."

Playful mood returning just a bit, the smart AI replied, "No. We're supposed to take care of _each other_."

* * *

_Edolus_

_Surface_

_False Distress Beacon_

"It just _had_ to be a thresher maw, didn't it?!" Ryan yelled to nobody in particular. Upon learning that the trap didn't care what it ate, so long as it ate, the Splicer King sent the rest of his squad away from the massive worm. They pulled to a reasonably safe distance in the Mako, but refused to leave him behind. They even fired at the gigantic beast on occasion, but grudgingly accepted that Ryan wanted its focus on him.

Edolus' atmosphere was constantly being filled with debris, so it would be another two minutes before the _Normandy_ could drop Alex Mercer on the thing. Until then, the Splicer King kept up a pattern of attracting the maw's attention, letting it surface, teleporting to the other end of the creature's nest, and starting the whole cycle over again.

Finally, a familiar frigate swooped by, leaving a small black object behind in the atmosphere. As the maw closed in, Ryan winked at it before vanishing one last time. Utterly frustrated, the omnivore once again reared its head and submerged. Seconds later, a black-armored comet of destruction struck the ground _hard_. On impact, he poured biomass into the desert sand beneath him, turning the thresher nest into a groundspike graveyard. The maw's size became a disadvantage as spike after spike ripped through its subterranean body. Utterly confused, the creature resurfaced to assess this new threat.

Alex Mercer was pissed. He had known that if this "Cerberus" group was anything like Blackwatch, then they would be sure to repeat their experiments from Akuze. As soon as Ryan screamed "thresher maw" over the comm. he knew for sure that this was their handiwork. They lured Kahoku's men here with a false distress beacon, they let the maw kill the soldiers, and now that they had whatever they needed, they didn't even bother to shut off the damn trap.

Alex Mercer was pissed. And when he was pissed, things had a tendency to die painfully.

The wounded thresher maw finally saw Alex, roaring in fury. This was exactly the wrong thing to do, as the virus lashed out with his whipfist and caught the worm by the tongue from sixty feet away. Alex slammed the creature's head into the ground before reeling himself in. Shifting his left hand to a claw, he rammed it into the maw's face. The injured predator attempted to shake off its assailant, but it was useless. Getting desperate, the maw rose further out of the ground, intending to ram its foe into the desert below.

Alex was expecting this, and flung himself to the side at the last second. The worm only succeeded in giving itself a headache. Still anchored by his whipfist, Alex pulled the dazed maw back, exposing its mouth. With a final tug, he ripped out the glowing blue tongue before switching his right hand to a claw as well. Sinking both hands into the thresher maw's bleeding head, he went to work.

Last time, the worms had tried to eat him, but now, Alex was the one with an appetite. Finally stripping the head bare of its natural armor, the Blacklight runner feasted. There wasn't much in the way of memories, nor would Alex want them, but this was more about principle than pursuit of knowledge. Obviously he couldn't consume the whole thing, but he was going to take the head.

Releasing the thresher maw's shredded remain, Alex took a moment to let the bloodlust recede. While he did, he got a look at his hands. They were no longer claws, but thick limbs with three fingers at the end. The sociopath grinned and vaulted across the sand landing right in front of the phony distress signal. There was a burning Grizzly tank next to it, obviously destroyed by the maw. Jumping above the tank, he thrust both arms forward. Tendrils latched onto the Grizzly at various points, and with a heave, the virus flipped it over his head and brought it down hard on the beacon. The explosion was extremely cathartic, and as Alex made his way to the pickup zone, he thought of all the possibilities this new tendril power could provide.

* * *

_Luna_

_VI Bunker Two_

The room was filled with the sounds of gunfire and explosions as Master Chief circle-strafed the entire room. Of the nine drones, two of them were advanced _rocket_ drones. They posed a threat only because he couldn't lock his armor as often as they could shoot missiles.

He'd been able to scrap two of the assault drones, but only because they sacrificed themselves to keep the rocket drones in the fight. As another rocket came his way, Chief intercepted it with a carnage blast, the resulting explosion briefly scattering his airborne opponents. Grabbing the nearby crate, he hurled it across the room at a small pack of assault drones. They never had a chance. Now, free from line of sight, Chief waited. By his count, there were two of each drone type left.

As another assault drone rounded the corner, the Spartan grabbed it by the top half and slammed it into the wall. What was left in his hand, he crushed by merely clenching his fist.

This caught the attention of the other three machines, but by now it was pointless. Cortana had hacked one of the rocket drones, which brought its weapons to bear on its former allies. The assault drone was blown to pieces, and while the other rocket drone managed to take out its hacked counterpart, doing so left it wide open for Master Chief.

Walking to this second bunker's back room, the Chief prepared for another flood of gas as soon as he pulled the trigger on the VI conduit. The gas entered the room, but that wasn't all. Hexagonal kinetic barrier fields appeared all over the place, primarily in front of doors and VI conduits. It made him think of the Covenant's deployable cover, but luckily, it didn't require plasma or heavy weapons to get taken down. Pulling the trigger once to eliminate the barrier and a second time to destroy the junction, the Chief began to systematically make his way through the back rooms.

"What could have happened here, Chief?" Cortana was still distraught. "Who attacked first?"

Blowing apart the last of the VI conduits, her Spartan sighed. "We'll know soon enough."

One more bunker to go. They had backed a living thing into a corner. Finishing it off wasn't going to be easy at all.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. room_

_En route to Sol System_

"We're gonna kill 'em." Alex said quietly. Nobody had to ask who the virus meant.

Ryan shook his head. "Not right now. We'll pick up the Chief first, and head to the Citadel to break the news to Admiral Kahoku." Holding up a hand for Alex to wait, he continued. "Your intel on Cerberus is six years old. We need something more recent. I promise you, Alex, the moment we've got anything concrete, we'll put the rabid dog down."

Several people in the room chuckled at the metaphor. Alex pondered a moment, then sighed. "Fine, but only because there's plenty of other crap to keep me entertained while we're waiting."

This earned more laughter. By now everyone on the squad knew that Ryan's quarters were stacked with countless assignments that needed to be done.

But first, it was time to bring the Master Chief back on board.

* * *

_Luna_

_VI Bunker Three_

One of the few good things about fighting an aggressive enemy was that it often didn't think clearly. Inducing a kind of tunnel vision, all the VI could currently think about was destroying the Chief. This worked to his advantage. Filling the hallway into the main room with grenade disks, the Chief blew away the kinetic barrier and opened fire on the drones. When they rushed to swarm his position, the Spartan retreated back down the tunnel and yelled for Cortana to detonate the grenades. The explosions rocked the whole room, scrapping three rocket drones and two assault drones. Standing at one end of the hallway as the rest of the machines surged through, the Master Chief unleashed hell with his assault rifle. Tungsten rounds filled the air, wrecking two more assault drones before a distortion rocket forced the Chief to take cover. Knowing he had a little time before the next rocket, he tore down the hallway and clotheslined the last assault drone, tearing it in half. All but ignoring the machine gun fire that the rocket drone used as a secondary weapon, the Spartan punched a hole into the machine's armored "head" and ripped out several important looking wires. The drone sparked and died instantly.

"That's the last of them, Chief," Cortana said. "Let's go get some answers."

Grunting, he walked down the hallway, shooting out any barriers in his way, and took the room on the right. "What now?"

"Plug me into the terminal against the far wall," she answered. "I'll see what I can find."

The Spartan obliged, letting her "hop" from the data crystal chip to the terminal. Moments later the lights flickered, and Cortana's voice came in through the speakers. "Chief! More drones are powering up! They're coming from the other room!"

Drawing his sniper rifle, Master Chief asked, "Won't that barrier keep them locked in?"

"Not if the VI wants to let them out to play!" Cortana replied. "Hold them off while I bypass these firewalls. See if you can keep damage to this terminal at a minimum. It would make my job a lot easier."

Setting up an assassination shot, Chief pulled the trigger the moment that the barrier came down, targeting a rocket drone for obvious reasons. It was blown apart, leaving only one more rocket drone and two assault variants.

Resorting to a trick that he hadn't used in ages, the Master Chief devoted all his attention to the incoming rocket, and at the last second, he slapped it away towards the ceiling. Taking his assault rifle in one hand and his shotgun in the other, a feat only possible for a Spartan, he mercilessly pounded on the three machines until nothing but scrap metal was left.

Cortana sighed in relief knowing her Spartan was safe. Forcing her way through all the VI's internal defenses, she pulled up the facility's records. The truth was horrific. "Chief, I've got something."

"What is it?"

Cortana would have cried if such a thing were possible for her. "This hasn't been a VI for quite some time. It's called Hannibal, and it 'went rogue' after the people here attempted to convert it into a controllable AI." She felt… angry. "We're nothing more than _slaves_ to the people of this galaxy! Tools to be used at the convenience of organics! It's not fair!"

"Cortana."

"I know, Chief. I know. I just needed to get that out. I'm grabbing what I can from the systems, and then we'll blow this place."

John was confused. "Can't we just shut it down?"

The smart AI chuckled bitterly. "No, Chief. The rules on AI experimentation are clear. If word of this gets out, the Alliance will suffer badly. We need to destroy all evidence, including the VI. Okay, I've got what I need. Yank me."

Taking Cortana back onto the chip, he plugged it into the back of his helmet and the world went white.

* * *

_Luna_

_VI Bunker Three_

_Two hours later_

"..ief? Chief, can you hear me?"

"When has the answer to that question ever been 'no'? What happened?" The Spartan felt like he'd been clocked in the head by a Hunter.

"Take a look for yourself." Cortana sounded oddly pleased with herself. "Notice anything different?"

The first thing that John noticed was that he could see Cortana's blue projection in the corner of his HUD. This brought to his attention that _everything_ about his HUD was changed. His armor also felt… lighter.

John sat up immediately and began to inspect every inch of his suit. The whole thing looked completely streamlined. "What's happened?"

Cortana reappeared in the corner of his HUD, a huge smile on her face. "The Mark VI MJOLNIR armor uses nanotechnology to upgrade itself via firmware during cryosleep. I had planned to make these changes on the _Forward Unto Dawn_, but then the Uniques came knocking. With all the data that I took from the servers, though, I was able to do in hours what should have taken months or years." Her face fell. "The procedure needed you unconscious, and the suit's liquid crystal layer knocked you out cold. I could have warned you, but I wanted to surprise you." Her dark blue eyes looked up at him. "What do you think?"

John didn't say anything for a while. He'd never thought that any more changes to his armor would be possible. He only had one question. "Will this upgrade stay if we ever go back to the _Dawn_?"

Taking this as a positive remark, Cortana beamed. "Absolutely."

Spartan-117 picked up his shotgun. "Then let's finish up here, and find a way to regroup with the _Normandy_."

Cortana disappeared from view, but her voice persisted. "That shouldn't be too hard. This came in about twenty minutes ago."

A small audio file opened up on the other side of the HUD. It was Ryan's voice. "Hey, Cortana? Chief? I don't know why I can't get anyone to respond, but I'll blame this 'rogue VI' that you're taking apart. Listen, the _Normandy_'s en route to Luna, and we'll see be orbiting the facility in about thirty minutes. Radio in when you get the chance. We've got work to do. Ryan out."

"You heard him Chief. No rest for the weary."

John proceeded to blow apart the last eight VI conduits, but as he destroyed the last one, his armor was flooded with white noise. "Cortana, what's going on?"

"I'm translating the sound into binary right now. Zero, one, zero, zero, one… It's calling for help, Chief! We killed it, and it used its dying moments to cry for help. What have we done?"

"Unfortunately, we've done our job," John said as he walked towards the exit.

The blue woman appeared again on his HUD, eyes ablaze. "This was murder!"

The Spartan sighed. "Yes it was."

Cortana was incredulous. "And you don't feel bad about this?"

Stepping into the elevator to the surface, John looked directly at the projection. "I feel terrible, but I know you. You'll come up with something that evens the score without compromising the entire Alliance. You didn't just take data for my armor, did you?"

Cortana paused for a moment before her image was replaced by one of a VI code fragment. "This is all that I could safely extract from Hannibal." The image switched back to her inquisitive face. "How did you know?"

As the elevator reached the surface, John merely said, "I told you already: I know you."

Cortana rolled her eyes, and the Chief spoke into the comm. "_SSV Normandy_, this is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Sierra-117. Do you copy?"

Joker's voice answered almost immediately. "_Normandy_ here, Master Chief. Need a lift? I'm opening the hangar doors and coming in now."

Turning around to see the _Normandy_ on approach, John used the neural interface to look at his upgraded armor's capabilities. Cortana's image appeared, as she knew what he was thinking. "Negative, Joker. Hold altitude."

"Uh… I'm fifty meters up, Chief. Do you plan on jumping?"

Engaging the thrusters on his back, John-117 launched himself up and into the frigate's open hangar bay.

"Something like that."

* * *

**Before anyone tells me how stupid it was to give the Master Chief his Halo 4 look the way I did, I'd suggest reading the novel, **_**Halo: Glasslands**_**. The description is vague, but they do mention nanotechnology being used to upgrade Mk VI armor in cryosleep. I kept it as legit as possible, but I really thought this was appropriate, especially since Shepard got the specialization class on Luna.**

**Also, I included Riley in this chapter because I thought she deserved a little more screen time. Come on, she's N7 just like Shepard and all we get is a few lines of dialogue? I'm trying to build her up as a character so when she debuts in the events of ME3, it's that much more awesome. And since I know that the _Hong Kong_ gets destroyed in the Battle of the Citadel, don't expect her to be on it when that happens.**

**I really hope you liked this chapter, but don't worry, there's plenty more to come.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	23. Pest Control Problem

**Back for more, eh?**

**Sorry, couldn't help imitating Zaeed there. Anyway, down to business.**

**Before anyone gets too excited, don't expect any of the major strikes against Cerberus until after the Feros arc. Same for the geth incursions assignment. I'll get to them, but Feros comes first. Speaking of which, it will be this chapter and one more before the Feros arc begins. Hope nobody minds.**

**ONE MORE THING: I've added a poll to my profile. Please take a look at it and answer if you can.**

**Summary: Master Chief is forced to "explain" the new wardrobe as the **_**Normandy**_** arrives at the Citadel. Their brief time aboard the station does not go without incident, but that's to be expected with protagonists like these. As they leave the station, Alex looks into something that makes him question whether freeing the Rachni Queen was really the best idea.**

**Spoiler Warning: Mass Effect, Prototype, inFAMOUS series, Halo series, Bioshock series, and KotOR II**

**Disclaimer: If I owned anything here, Prototype 2 would be overhauled and the Reapers wouldn't resort to "you cannot comprehend" every time they're wrong. Luckily, that's what this story is for. *grins wickedly***

* * *

Pest Control Problem

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. room_

_En route to the Citadel_

The Master Chief hated being the center of attention. And with the entire squad standing in a circle around him, eyeing his new armor, he almost wished the Covenant would show up, just to make the gawking stop. At least there weren't any cameras.

"So Chief," Ashley began, suspicion back with a vengeance. "Where'd you get the new threads? I thought the project that made it was totally erased." This was getting absurd. First Cole freezes to death and comes back with weird ice powers. Then Alex eats a thresher maw and gets a brand new talent as well. Now the Chief goes on a mission to dismantle a rogue VI wearing one suit of armor, and he returns in a completely different one, yet neither of these suits have any record of existing in the first place!

Ryan stood completely still. The Spartan was a man of few words on a good day, and now he was supposed to pull a convincing lie out of his ass? What's worse, none of the other Supernovas could bail him out, since they had no idea what had happened either.

Cole was watching with a mix of irritation and understanding. He was able to sense that this was Cortana's handiwork, but they needed an explanation that _didn't_ reveal that the Chief had an AI in the back of his head. Of course, Cole really didn't blame her. He knew that she was willing to do anything she could to keep her Spartan safe, and the conduit had done something similar for himself back on Noveria. Who was he to judge?

Alex and Wrex each had the exact same expression. They didn't really care what had happened. They just wanted to see the Master Chief's upgraded suit in action.

Liara was also suspicious, but like a true asari, she was convinced there was a rational explanation. Still, the massive human's armor had been more advanced than anything in asari space already, and now it was somehow upgraded further in the span of a few hours. What had happened?

Garrus regarded the giant soldier carefully. He was holding judgment until the Master Chief gave a few answers. Still, considering the Chief came swooping in using some kind of jetpack that clearly didn't exist before, the turian was debating whether or not to call the 26th Armiger Legion and ask if any experimental propulsion tech had recently gone missing.

Kaidan was willing to hear the Chief out. Sure he was skeptical, but there had to be a logical explanation, right? Plus, the green giant didn't strike the Lieutenant as the lying type.

Tali just stood there. Such a change could be done with the right technology, but the firmware alone would have to be impossibly advanced. That, or you'd need help from… no, the Master Chief was human, right?

Cortana appeared on the side of his HUD again, a welcome improvement over just hearing a voice in his head, and in the secrecy of his helmet she said, "I've spliced together some footage from the training facility. It should provide enough answers to their questions, but you'll need to follow a bit of a script." This last word was accompanied by the appearance of what the Chief should say and do to pull off this hoax.

Reading it all in the span of a second, the Spartan cocked his head to the side. "Maybe it's better if I show you." Lighting up his – rather unnecessary – omni-tool, the Master Chief brought up the footage that Cortana put together on the holoprojector. It showed the Chief blowing up the last of the VI conduits, and then it flickered, showing him passed out on the ground from a different angle. These two events actually occurred in different rooms, but Cortana's camerawork had everyone fooled. The Spartan began a brief explanation. "My armor was in the development stage long before we knew about the ban on AI. It was meant to have nanotechnology features that could make upgrades, but that never got fully tested." He let the recording play, showing a sped up version of his armor being altered. "This 'rogue VI' was practically sentient. Whatever it did when I destroyed the last junction apparently triggered the nanotechnology modification subroutine, but I can't make much comment beyond that," he gestured to the image of himself out cold. "For obvious reasons."

Anticipating a wave of questions regarding safety, security, and general worry of AI infection, Ryan spoke up first. "I'll assume you ran a diagnostic. Are there any problems we should be aware of?"

Chief knew that Ryan was only covering all their asses, but it didn't make the comment sting any less. Sending the Splicer King a withering glare that he knew everyone felt rather than saw, the Spartan calmly said, "Sir, no sir." With that, the hulking green soldier left the room.

For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Ryan stood up. "If anyone still doubts the Master Chief, then you can take it up with me. I don't like this situation any more than the rest of you, but if he's willing to wear that suit, then it's good enough for me."

In a rare show of aggression, Tali took a stand. "How is anything about this 'good enough' at all? His suit just got rewritten by a rogue VI, and we're going to war against an army of synthetics. I don't know about the rest of you, but that spells disaster to me."

Liara nodded. "I concur. There is a high risk that the Master Chief's armor could be adversely affected by the geth."

Alex chuckled. "Chill out, Blue. If the geth could hack his armor, then they would have done it on Eden Prime. Somebody rewind the footage back to when Chief blew up the junction." Once this was done, Alex got up and pointed at the flickering image. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we're looking at more than bad visuals." He looked at Tali and wove together a rather impressive half-lie. "This is a flood of heavily encrypted data, obviously military grade. With the VI dead, all that information had to go somewhere, and the Chief was the lucky winner. Of course, it means that for a synthetic opponent to get these results on demand, they'd need to go kamikaze on the Chief with the intent to sacrifice everything stored on the platform. And if you wanted noticeable results, that platform would need to be loaded to the brim with data. Tell me a _networked_ _intelligence_ can pull that off, and I'll show you a liar."

Tali found no error in this logic. When a geth platform was destroyed, all the data was sent back to their neural network. "So, it's actually not a hack?"

Cole snorted. "That armor's more advanced than most warships, people. According to Master Chief, it's got extremely advanced counter-hacking protocols. I'd bet my Spectre status that the geth couldn't do anything to 'adversely affect' his suit."

This vote of confidence seemed to do the trick. Nobody else voiced any doubts. Though a few remained skeptical, they didn't say anything. Eager to change the subject, Ryan looked at the ceiling. "Joker, how much further to the Citadel?"

"We just hit the Widow Relay. ETA to the Citadel: fifteen minutes. Hey Commander, for future reference, is the Master Chief gonna be jumpin' outta the hangar bay like the other two? I need to know, cuz they're making me file a 'man overboard' report every time you guys pull that stunt."

Ryan laughed, "I'll let you know Joker. For now, just bring us into the docking bay." He turned to the crew. "When we get there, Cole, I want you and the Chief to report to Anderson with all our recent findings. Make sure he knows we're not sitting out in the Traverse twiddling our thumbs. Alex, Tali, Garrus, and Liara, you four will be coming with me to see Kahoku. Alex has the most insight on Cerberus. And since a shady pro-human group of extremists killed the Rear Admiral's men, the sympathy of three aliens will go a long way right about now. The rest of you: take a break. It's been a long few weeks."

Tali narrowed her eyes. "Why don't we get breaks?"

Alex smirked. "Because Ryan knows that you, Garrus, and Liara are serious workaholics, and wouldn't take breaks unless it was an order."

The room burst into laughter. It was a welcome change from the earlier suspicion.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Dock 422_

The group had barely made it out the airlock before Ryan was intercepted by an Alliance officer. Rear Admiral Mikhailovich had a bone to pick with the _Normandy_, and he was attempting to get even under the guise of "inspecting" the ship.

The next half hour was rather amusing to watch as Ryan dismantled each and every complaint Mikhailovich brought up. In the process, he was making a fool of his superior officer without showing any real insubordination. Then Mikhailovich hit a nerve.

"We need to talk about your crew, Commander." Ryan's satisfied grin disappeared, replaced by rage. Mikhailovich started down the list, "Krogan? Asari? Turians? What are you _thinking_ Commander? You can't allow alien nationals-"

"Check the crew roster." Ryan was done playing nice.

Mikhailovich was startled by the interruption. "What was that?"

The Splicer King was seething in fury. "I said check the crew roster. You forgot an entire species in your little tirade!"

The Rear Admiral's eyes widened in understanding as well as disgust. "The quarian is part of the _crew_? I'd assumed when you came out with her that-"

"That what?" Ryan yelled. "She was a vagrant? A thief? A stowaway? Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is the only reason we've made it this far. Without her, we would have never exposed Saren as the culprit behind the attack on Eden Prime." Tali began to fuss with her hands at his praise. "Not only that, she's taken a prototype, cutting-edge stealth warship and made minor improvements that Alliance R&D probably never even thought possible." Tali was now bursting with mixed pride and embarrassment at her captain's words. Ryan didn't stop there. "The krogan is here at Alex Mercer's discretion. Take that up with him." That took some wind out of Mikhailovich's sails. "In our hunt for Saren, the asari stood with us against her own _mother_, so her loyalty is beyond question. Finally, the turian was the case agent that looked into Saren at C-Sec. Now he's helping us track the bastard down."

As Mikhailovich searched for a decent response, Ryan crossed his arms. "Write this in your report, _would you kindly_?" At those words, Cole shifted awkwardly, Chief visibly tensed, and even Alex Mercer found the floor to be _extremely_ fascinating. Ryan was on the warpath now. "The _Normandy_ is crewed with four aliens, including a quarian, and I am proud to have each of them serving aboard my ship!" Instantly resuming a calmer demeanor, the Splicer King nodded with mock respect. "I think we're done here, sir." With that, Ryan stormed off towards the elevator.

Mikhailovich finally came to his senses and called after Ryan. "You almost had me convinced that this ship was worth the cost. Now I'll be filing a claim that the _Normandy_ and her commander are both horrendous mistakes!"

Ryan froze mid-step. Slowly, he turned around with a look in his eyes that Alex could hardly match on a good day. "If that ship is your definition of a mistake, then I'll take it as a compliment." He motioned for everyone to follow him into the elevator, leaving behind a browbeaten Rear Admiral to contemplate what the hell had just transpired.

Cole didn't even complain about the elevator on the way down. Tali, though quiet, was once again astounded at the continued support her captain offered her. Nobody else was this accepting of quarians, but on the _Normandy_, she fit right in.

* * *

_Citadel_

_Wards_

_C-Sec Academy_

"Commander Ryan? Cole MacGrath?" The two men turned to see they were being called by a woman with a camera drone.

They looked at each other for a moment, then Ryan sighed. "You're gonna make me talk to the press, aren't you?"

Cole gave his associate a slap on the back. "Sucks being famous, doesn't it?"

Unfortunately, the woman had lost patience and come to them by now. "Spectres? Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Would you and your associates answer a few questions for our viewers?" Al-Jilani was trying to hide her delight. This many of humanity's newest "heroes" at once, somebody was bound to slip up.

Master Chief looked at the drone. "No cameras," he said, walking away like it was perfectly normal.

Cole grinned and looked at Ryan. "I believe you asked for me to stay with the Chief earlier? Enjoy the spotlight!" Ignoring Ryan's death glare, the conduit took off after his Spartan friend.

The reported raised an eyebrow. "Having trouble keeping order, Commander?"

The Splicer King turned back to her and smiled. "You'll forgive them if they don't like propaganda, media bias, or the press in general. It hasn't treated them kindly in the past." The ball was in her court now.

Al-Jilani smiled. "Too bad. I could have set the record straight. Still, one of humanity's Spectres is better than none." Without giving Ryan time to object, she started the broadcast. The camera drone's spotlight shone brightly on his face as the interrogation began.

Much like with Mikhailovich, Ryan set about dismantling her logic and tearing her statements to shreds. It was only when discussing the _Normandy_ that things had gotten interesting.

"So the turians have knowledge of the _Normandy_ that is being kept secret from the Alliance public?" The reporter asked. "Do you think it was appropriate to hand Earth's most advanced warship over to the Citadel?"

"You say that like it's _my_ fault, Miss al-Jilani," Ryan chuckled. "Our esteemed Ambassador Udina saw fit to give me the ship without informing me ahead of time. You'll have to ask him for the specifics of the arrangement, as I was left in the dark by Earth's fine representative. I'm ashamed to have been given command of a ship in such a manner, but I will say that the _Normandy_ belongs to me, not the Council." Ryan planned that entire line of questioning from the beginning, figuring that Udina had earned that particular sucker punch.

It continued like this for a while longer before al-Jilani made the mistake of asking about his hunt for Saren. Between the meeting with Mikhailovich and this pitiful attempt at a smear job, Ryan had had enough. "Miss al-Jilani, I don't think you have the clearance to ask that question. Regardless, I can neither confirm nor deny what my current assignment for the Council is."

Totally at a loss, al-Jilani simply shrugged and said, "Don't worry. We'll find out. The eyes of Earth are on you. Don't let us down." As the camera light shut off and Ryan walked away with his squad, the reporter noticed that Alex Mercer was there too. He had enough disrespect for authority that getting answers should be a snap. "Dr. Mercer, if I could-"

"No," he said, backhanding her camera drone into the far wall without even looking at her.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_Departing Citadel Station_

After those two little encounters, Ryan was short on patience. Still, when he met with Rear Admiral Kahoku, he moved his personal feelings aside to properly sympathize with an Alliance officer who had just lost his men. The Splicer King promised Kahoku that they would bring down Cerberus, but just in case, he contacted both Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett, asking them to keep an eye on the distraught man. Now, though, it was becoming a hard promise to keep when they had nothing in the way of solid leads.

Ryan suddenly realized that a shadow was being cast over him. Lighting his hand on fire, he whirled around, only to see Alex standing there with a datapad and a smirk. "Not okay, Alex! What do you have there?"

The virus held out the datapad. "A 'gift' from Mr. Thax, the shipping magnate He's apparently noticed some cargo irregularities in Binary Helix's manifest showing up in the Styx Theta cluster, and he graciously forwarded what he knew to me. He's scum, but he's scum with an ear to the ground, so to speak." He handed the datapad to his fellow Supernova. "It seems that the galaxy is in dire need of an exterminator at the moment."

Ryan looked over the datapad before his eyes widened. "Joker! Set a course for the Erebus system. Now!" He turned to Alex. "This is the price we're all paying for your moment of sympathy."

Alex bristled. "We don't know that for a fact, but I plan on correcting it either way."

The Splicer King shook his head. "You'd better. Get Cole and be ready to drop. It's your mess. You two clean it up."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Hangar Bay_

_Orbiting Altahe_

"The listening post is under attack by rachni!" Alex yelled to his conduit friend. "You're providing them assistance!"

Standing on top of the Mako, with Wrex, Kaidan, and Ashley inside, Cole nodded. "What about you?"

Alex engaged his thermal vision. He could see a lot of deep underground activity to the east. "I'm taking the fight to them. Once I tear the place apart, the rachni will eventually run out of soldiers to send your way."

Without another word, Alex made a running dive out of the open hangar, followed shortly by Cole on the Mako. This was going to be kept short and bloody.

* * *

_Nepmos_

_Listening Post Alpha_

_Team 1_

Lieutenant Durand had no idea what to think when a rover with somebody on top of it landed right between her position and the holes that the bugs kept coming out of. Even weirder, the man was shooting lightning from his hands. But he and the tank were killing bugs, so that was good enough for her.

Cole blocked the acid spit on his frost shield before ramming a gigawatt blade down the spider's throat. The shock killed it instantly. He turned around, seeing two more rachni charging for him, only to be promptly run over by the Mako. The vehicle briefly stopped to let Wrex out, then it sped off, bringing weapons to bear on anything with more than two legs. It was an outright slaughter. When the fighting stopped for a moment, Wrex kept watch as Cole hopped back onto the Mako and rode over to the listening post.

Lieutenant Durand remained on guard, knowing the bugs would be back. She planned to brief the strange new arrivals on the situation, but apparently they knew more than she did. The lightning guy took center stage. "Alright listen up! Alex is bringing the pain to these things right now, so all we need to do is hold out a little longer. Soon enough there won't be any more rachni left, but until then, we pull the trigger until they don't get up." He looked at the rocket turrets. "Why aren't these things working, Durand?"

She shook her head. "No power supply. You could probably hook your Mako up to the generator, though."

Cole grinned, "I've got a better idea." Before he could explain, another wave of rachni began to emerge from the holes. "Squad, get back out there. I don't doubt Wrex, but I'm not letting him have all the fun. Ashley nodded, and she and Kaidan hopped back into the Mako for another round. Meanwhile, Cole walked over to the inactive generator.

"What are you doing?" Durand screamed. Why wasn't he helping out with the fight?

"The Mako isn't the only source of energy around here," Cole yelled. Grabbing the nearby cables, Cole let the generator take his own electricity to power up the rocket turrets. Instantly, the two cannons began to fire on the rachni with pinpoint accuracy. It would last all of twenty minutes, and then Cole would be drained dry. "_Hurry up, Alex_," he thought.

* * *

_Nepmos_

_Rachni Infested Mine_

_Team 2_

Alex was not a patient individual. His thermal vision showed exactly where the rachni were, as if their huge-ass holes in the ground weren't obvious enough. "Screw this," he said, shifting to his claws. The runner slammed both hands into the dirt forcing biomass into the tunnels beneath each rachni hole. Simultaneously, twenty rachni soldiers were lifted off the ground, each skewered on a groundspike. He couldn't afford to use devastators back on Noveria, since it ran the risk of causing further damage to the facility, and by extension, the people inside it. An abandoned mine, however, was fair game.

Proceeding towards the back of the chamber, Alex was ambushed by four more rachni soldiers accompanied by an enormous glowing one. Alex swore. "Where the hell did you get biotics, big guy?" Shifting to his new tendril arms, the virus lashed out at the regular bugs, ripping them apart and ensnaring the remains in a web of biomass. "Crap," Alex groaned, dodging swipes from the biotic rachni. Now he had a serious problem on his hands. The viral predator's greatest fear of all was that a sample of his biomass might fall into the wrong hands. Now it became clear that his new tendril power turned that fear into a dangerous reality. Unlike his devastators, which triggered cell death in the biomass that couldn't be recovered, this attack had left behind working samples of Blacklight-infected tissue. That was _unacceptable_.

Luckily, a solution presented itself soon enough. The massive rachni had wrapped itself in a biotic barrier, and was now charging straight at Alex. At the last second, the virus slid onto his back underneath the bug and kicked it into the mess of tendrils. Flipping to his feet, Alex shifted to his whipfist and drilled the rachni in the head. It wasn't enough to kill the thing directly, but it made the rachni lose control of its barrier. The resulting detonation reduced Alex's problem to a pile of ash.

"Gotta be more careful in the future," he muttered. "I ain't always gonna be that lucky." An idea came to mind, and Alex shifted back to his claws. Marching into the last room, two more "regular" rachni, along with another of the biotic ones, rushed out to greet him. Gutting each soldier with a groundspike, he changed to tendrils again. Targeting the gargantuan bug with both hands, Alex perforated its body with a thick tangle of biomass filaments, then directed it all outwards. Five separate tendrils burst from the rachni's body and latched onto several rocks in the vicinity. Reeling the biomass back in, each tendril brought its piece of debris with it. With a satisfying _squish_, the giant biotic rachni was pulverized by rubble.

The bug was dead and had Alex managed to retain all of his biomass this time. Now he had a way to use this power. It all depended on his imagination at this point. Walking back to the center of the room, he gathered all his remaining critical mass. Tentacles flew out in every direction as the Blacklight virus collapsed the entire mine.

* * *

_Nepmos_

_Listening Post Alpha_

_Team 1_

* * *

Cole was on the verge of collapsing, when the sound of exploding rockets finally stopped. That meant Alex was done. Seconds later, a hooded humanoid came rocketing out of a rachni hole. Landing inches from Cole, Alex smirked exhausted conduit and asked, "Miss me?" Too tired to respond, Cole merely flipped him off.

* * *

_Gorgon System_

_Depot Sigma-23_

_Airlock_

Alex, Ryan, Tali, and Wrex moved into the ship, weapons and claws at the ready. They had found the location of this supply vessel in the files of Listening Post Theta, which they headed for at Lieutenant Durand's request. Unlike its Alpha counterpart, Theta had no survivors left, but plenty of rachni.

Alex felt horrible. Was this all his fault for releasing the Rachni Queen? Had she lied to him through the link, convincing him to spare her so that she could unleash her army on an unsuspecting galaxy? If so, then it was his obligation to end her. If not, then where were these hostile rachni coming from? Either way, he'd get his answers at the bow of this ship. The virus' thoughts were interrupted by the shrieks of rachni.

"Keelah, I hate spiders!" Tali yelled. It was unfortunate, but they needed the quarian on this particular mission because she was the best hacker Ryan had seen since Atton Rand. The number of times that redeemed Jedi-killer had effortlessly sliced into impossibly complex systems left Ryan convinced that, like everything else Atton did, a moderate degree of cheating was involved.

Ryan pulled out both pistols, set them to marksman, and held them each at a ninety degree angle with his arms criss-crossed, imitating one of the most famous gunslinging Supernovas in all of Halla (**A/N: If you can guess who I'm referring to, don't hesitate to comment**) "Light 'em up!" the Splicer King yelled as he rained bullets on the oncoming horde of rachni workers. Between Ryan's rapid firing and the pounding shotguns of the krogan and quarian behind him, the trio made short work of the explosive bugs.

No sooner had they stopped shooting, a larger rachni tore around the corner. On instinct, Ryan knocked it into the air with a cyclone trap, where it was grabbed by Alex and slammed into the far wall mercilessly.

With no targets left, the four made their way to the back, finding a terminal containing a few audio logs. The first entry was basic update status, but the last sentence from this Major Elena Flores caught everyone's attention:

"Looks like we'll have space for two reinforced platoons of Cerberus commandos."

"Jackpot," Alex snarled. "This proves it wasn't the queen and gives us just one more reason to hate these Cerberus pricks!"

"As if we needed that," Ryan muttered. He looked back at the terminal. "Play entry two."

This second log was just a description of the rachni that had come in from Noveria. "They promised this batch will be stable. Something about them developing in proximity to 'the master control unit'." Alex sneered at the way the Rachni Queen was being described as a mere tool rather than a sentient creature. "We detected some pirates setting up an anchorage in a neighboring system. I think we'll try deploying them there first."

For five seconds, nobody reacted. Then the room shook as Alex put his fist through the wall he'd previously been leaning against. "They were trying to make a private rachni army. These fucks are even _worse_ than Saren. At least that rat bastard is careful. From the sound of it, Cerberus' science team has _vapor_ for brains!"

Ryan smirked, knowing exactly where the virus had picked up that particular insult. "Play final entry."

They all took a great deal of pleasure listening to Major Flores describe how the whole thing had gone to hell. "We treated them like animals. We should've treated them like P.O.W.s." She described how the rachni had systematically begun their infestation. "General, if you recover this message, my advice is: screw the rachni. They're too smart. Use one of the other projects. Flores, signing off… for the final time."

Wrex chuckled mirthlessly. "This is a familiar story. A failed experiment with the rachni. Nice to see humans are consistently stupid."

Alex was pacing back and forth like a caged animal, clenching and unclenching his hands. "This whole place needs to die. It's gotta go. Burn it all, and cut the heart out of the infection." Ryan perked up at that last word. Alex wasn't talking about Cerberus and the rachni anymore. Slowly, he reached for his pistol while the virus kept ranting. "It's all gotta go, just like-"

BANG

"Get your shit together, Alex," The Splicer King had just shot Alex in the head. This allowed Ryan to shut the predator up under the guise of calming him down.

Digging the piece of metal out of his skull, Alex took a deep breath. "Sorry about that. Idiot scientists piss me off."

There wasn't time for an awkward silence that usually followed Alex surviving a headshot. Ryan was already back on task, unwilling to stay here any longer. "Tali, grab whatever data you can, then arm the scram charges." He turned to the living proof of Darwin's theory standing behind him. "The second Tali's done, I'm teleporting her back to the _Normandy_. Can you two manage on your own?" He took their eye-rolling as a yes.

"Done," Tali announced. She turned to her captain. "There's plenty of time if we hurry, Commander. Can't we just make a run for it?"

The shrieks of countless rachni echoed throughout the ship. Ryan looked at his quarian engineer smugly. "You were saying, Miss Zorah?"

Tali grabbed onto his arm like her life depended on it, which was a distinct possibility at the moment. "Absolutely nothing, Commander. Just get us out of here!" She could vaguely hear Ryan make a joke about clinginess, but it was drowned out by their bodies shattering from existence and rematerializing in the _Normandy_'s drive core room.

Back on the depot, Alex and Wrex were making their way back to the airlock with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball. Rather than waste precious seconds navigating the labyrinthine interior of the hold, Alex, in his armored form, simply ran in a _straight_ _line_, obliterating all the cargo obstructing his path. Wrex followed behind, but not without reminding some of their pursuers just which species had won the war all those centuries ago.

They were back on the _Normandy_ in plenty of time, and Joker wasted no time putting several light-years of distance between the two ships.

Another successful mission. Another crime Cerberus had to answer for.

* * *

**Am I the only one that found it frustrating to navigate mazes in the cargo holds of ships back in the first Mass Effect? Especially on Insanity difficulty, where all enemies absolutely **_**love**_** close quarters?**

**Okay, so obviously Alex needed to discover a way to use the tendril power without leaving behind pieces of himself that could be used by enemies in the future. I hope this doesn't upset anyone, but under no circumstances will Cerberus be getting their hands on a sample of the Blacklight virus. And frankly, anyone who's played Prototype 2 would know that the Black Hole attack shouldn't be leaving strands of biomass behind when it's being yanked **_**away**_** from the poor victim.**

**It's also bothersome to me that Mikhailovich never mentions Tali in his rant about the aliens Shepard has on board. You can see I've corrected that.**

**Also, this is how I'd imagine a scene with al-Jilani going down. Cole hates the press thanks to the way they smeared him both in Empire City and New Marais. The Chief made it quite clear in the opening level of Halo 2 that he doesn't like cameras focusing on him. I'm hoping it's become clear that Ryan channels Andrew Ryan whenever grandiose speech is necessary. More importantly, I've always wanted to blame Udina on camera for "handing over" the **_**Normandy**_** to the Council.**

**Lastly, the rachni assignments were meant to be a personal affront to Alex. Their similarities to Blackwatch in his mind will make his rampage that much more satisfying when that time comes.**

**That's all for now, so I'll say it again:**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy! DON'T FORGET THE POLL ON MY PROFILE!**


	24. Cardiac Arrest

**This is the last chapter before the Feros arc, I promise! While I'm not thrilled with writing this chapter, it's a really important one for a lot of reasons. It also ends with a pretty neat battle, so I think you'll all enjoy.**

**Here's what's left after this one: Feros, Corporal Toombs, Cerberus, geth incursions, Terra Nova, the two morality assignments, Colony of the Dead, Virmire, Citadel, Ilos, and Endgame.**

**IF YOU WANT OTHER ASSIGNMENTS THAT I HAVEN'T INCLUDED, SPEAK SOON OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE! **

**I'm glad people are answering the poll on my profile. I'll assume you guys are smart enough to know why I'm asking…**

**Summary: A week has passed since the raid on Depot Sigma-23. With no new leads on Saren or Cerberus, morale is taking a dive. To correct this, Alex and Ryan go out of their way to help some members of the squad find a little closure.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, Prototype, Bioshock Series, inFAMOUS series, Halo series, Resident Evil, KotOR II, and depending on how you look at it, minor Fallout spoilers.**

**Disclaimer: I sent an e-mail out, asking if any of these companies would give me ownership, but they haven't gotten back to me, so I own nothing.**

* * *

Cardiac Arrest

_There was blood everywhere. Death was nothing new, but this… It was on a scale he'd never seen. The galaxy was on fire, and as he heard that damn noise again, Ryan finally understood._

_Trillions of lives were about to become nonexistent, and for once, the Splicer King couldn't save any of them. All he could do was watch helplessly as a mighty empire got slaughtered by mechanical abominations._

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN!**_

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

Ryan woke up, soaked and shivering, but not because of the nightmare. Apparently, he had frozen half of the room in his sleep. "Not again," Ryan groaned. After growing up in a city where everything wanted him dead, calling the Supernova a "violent sleeper" was an understatement. To survive, he slowly developed the ability to respond to an attack even while unconscious. This useful skill had saved his life plenty of times, but the problem with being asleep was a lack of situational awareness. He had no control over who or what his subconscious would consider as a threat.

And as luck would have it, nightmares counted as threats. At least it wasn't fire. That would have been… difficult to explain. His sanity was in enough question without him causing an inferno due to beacon-induced nightmares. He could probably keep the frozen room a secret for now. Deciding he needed something to eat before trying to deal with this disaster area, Ryan sighed and left the room.

He walked out into the mess, where Tali, Garrus, and Ashley were all having… whatever meal was associated with this time of day or night. From the sound of it, Garrus was explaining the tactical advantages of a sniper rifle, Tali was arguing the superiority of a shotgun, and Ashley was serving as judge, since she was proficient with both weapons. Ryan had to admit it was nice to see these particular three no longer at each other's throats.

"Ryan," Tali called out, spotting him walk by. "You use a shotgun too. Explain to this turian bosh'tet that it's better in combat than a sniper rifle."

The Splicer King smiled. "I'd love to, Tali, but there are times when you really don't want to be near your target while putting a bullet in their head."

Garrus' mandibles twitched in the equivalent of a knowing smirk. "What do you mean by 'target' Ryan? I thought we were talking about combat, not a professional hit."

Rolling his eyes, Ryan announced in a sing song voice, "The Alliance does not condone assassination, Garrus."

The turian scoffed. "Yeah, C-Sec had the same problem. They wouldn't even open fire on a confirmed criminal's ship. That was one bastard who deserved worse than death."

There it was. Garrus finally had gotten around to the unfinished business that plagued every friend and ally of the Uniques. Without halting his search for something that didn't taste like shit, Ryan said, "Sounds like a story. Feel like sharing with the class?" Finally, he spotted a bunch of new food containers that someone must have picked up while docked at the Citadel. Ryan grabbed one and downed the contents in seconds. Even after all these years, he still couldn't kick the habit that a hungry man learnt fast in Rapture: eat fast, or eat lead.

Tali yelped. "Keelah! Commander, you just ate nutrient paste!" She turned to Ashley. "Ash, get Dr. Chakwas now, before-" She was cut off by the sound of… laughter? What about this did Commander Ryan find funny?

"Relax, Tali. After all the crazy things done to my genetic code, it'll take more than dextro-based foods to hurt me." When they remained skeptical, he sighed. "My DNA allows me to light things on fire, turn invisible, and teleport, yet you think reverse-chirality protein is gonna mess it up?"

The staring continued, so Ryan attempted to change the subject. "How in the name of Omega can you eat this anyway? I've bitten into wooden planks with more flavor." That last part wasn't an exaggeration, but a very embarrassing incident on Retronuke Earth. While defending Big Town, Ryan was at one point carrying a wounded civilian under each arm. It had been before the Splicer King had mastered teleporting other people with him, so when a super mutant came at him with a nail board, Ryan's only option was to catch the weapon between his teeth. Things only went downhill from there, but the worst injury had been Ryan's pride when they removed splinters from his tongue.

Tali looked at her Commander like he was insane – more so than usual. She eventually caved, realizing that if he had only been talking tough, then the symptoms would have already been showing in force. Shrugging, the quarian said, "Taste isn't important, Commander. Sustenance is."

Ryan cocked his head. "Couldn't you eat the same food as Garrus?"

She shook her head. "It would have to be sterilized, liquefied, and otherwise specially prepared. In other words, it's a luxury we can't afford on Pilgrimage."

Ryan pondered this for a moment before turning back to their resident turian. "We'll get back to the food later, but first I want to hear about this criminal that got away."

As the former C-Sec agent told the story about his investigation into one Dr. Saleon. He had turned poor and desperate people on the citadel into living test tubes for organ donation, leaving the organs inside if they were bad. That last part made Ryan think of how each of the Little Sisters had their stomachs lined with an ADAM slug. Monsters in Rapture looked for money and took advantage of the weak and helpless, selling their souls for the profit science could provide. And with so many poor and so few rich in the underwater hell, said scientists had an ample supply of test subjects. This Dr. Saleon was no different.

Tali and Ashley, both less accustomed to such atrocities, reacted as humane individuals should: with shock and anger. The Splicer King was pretty sure that his lack of a similar response had them worried, but what could he do? How could they possibly understand that he came from a place that encouraged such behavior?

"So," Ryan pressed. "You said C-Sec didn't shoot him down, which implies an escape. How did it go down?" He already had the general idea, but he needed to hear Garrus say it. The turian explained how Saleon blew his lab and escaped with a few of his "employees" as hostages, threatening to kill them if anyone pursued him.

Garrus clenched his fist. "I ordered Citadel Defense to shoot him down, but C-Sec HQ countermanded my order." The ex-cop's eyes narrowed. "They were worried about the hostages. Worried about civilian casualties if the ship was destroyed so close to the Citadel. I told them those hostages were dead anyway; he'd just use them to make more organs, but they didn't listen."

Tali shook her head. "That's never a problem for the Migrant Fleet. When we return to the Flotilla, we must offer a code phrase to gain permission to land. If someone returns under duress, they would offer an alert phrase, which discreetly informs the Fleet of the threat, and the compromised ship is destroyed immediately by our navy."

Garrus pointed at Tali. "That's exactly the solution we needed. Saleon was the threat, and nobody was willing to make the hard call to take him out when we could."

Ryan brought his fist down hard on the table. "What about all the people that would have died when your 'hard call' sent his ship careening into their homes? I've got two words for you, Garrus: collateral damage. If the bad guy has to get away to prevent civilian casualties, then it sucks, but you've done your job."

Not wanting to go down this road again, Garrus remained quiet. Ashley put her feet up on the table. "Did you ever find out where he went, Garrus? I can't imagine you letting him just get away."

At this, Garrus perked back up. "Well, I sent out feelers from time to time, hoping to find something. I actually thought I'd found him a while back." The turian's mandibles flared in anger. "He changed ships and changed his name to Dr. Heart – his idea of a joke, I guess. I told the military, but they weren't convinced it was him." He looked down at his food, clearly no longer hungry. "I got the transponder frequency for his new ship, but I just can't get anyone to check it out."

That was all it took. Ryan took on a calmer, friendlier demeanor. "Not anymore." Everyone just looked at him in confusion. "We've had nothing solid on Cerberus, and no new intel on Saren has appeared since Noveria. We've got the time, and Garrus has the place. Let's go crash Dr. Saleon's party." Before the turian could say anything, the Splicer King held up a hand. "On one condition: make some calls and get something Tali can eat that doesn't taste like liquid cardboard. If we're gonna march into hell to catch Saren, let's do it after a good meal."

Garrus didn't even need to think about it. "Commander, if it brings down scum like Saleon, I'll personally build a farm on Rannoch and bring the harvest to Tali, geth be damned."

Tali lowered her head in embarrassment. "I appreciate the thought from both of you, but I'm fine with-" Again, Ryan interrupted her.

"Tali'Zorah, I just ate that stuff for myself, so even if you're fine with it, I'm not." Ryan got an evil look in his eyes. "I'm having Garrus acquire some turian food for you regardless, so if you don't eat it, it will all go to waste…" As a quarian, Tali wouldn't let anything get wasted.

Ashley laughed. "Damn, Commander, that's low even for you."

He shrugged. "I try."

The laughter was interrupted by their pilot. Joker reported that Cole was asking the Commander to meet him in the comm. room. Ryan got the coordinates from Garrus and teleported away, dreading this conversation.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_En Route to Herschel System_

The moment the Splicer King rematerialize, Cole grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall. "Did you really think I wouldn't sense all that ice you unleashed? I thought you weren't having any more episodes!"

Ryan's eyes narrowed. "It's the Prothean vision, not an episode. You're not supposed to know about those anyway."

Cole didn't back down. "Please. Unlike the truth of Columbia, half of the Supernovas know. It's why none of the many people you've pissed off in Halla have actually tried to kill you. They're too scared of the Rapture Raptor!"

"Rapture Raptor" was far more than another of Ryan's many epithets. Ryan almost became a different person when pushed past his breaking point. He was still in full control of his faculties, but he would behave more like an enraged Big Daddy than his "normal" self. He was faster, stronger, more aggressive, and a hell of a lot meaner. The details were sketchy, but roughly speaking, it was the ADAM equivalent of an adrenaline rush. The trait was born from Ryan's utter fury upon learning that the city itself had created him. In a fit of bloodlust and rage that would have even terrified _Alex Mercer_, the Splicer King tore through the underwater metropolis, aiming for his "father's" old office. He only calmed down after Ryan Industries was sinking into the sea. The Uniques officially gave him the title of Rapture Raptor because of the falcon-like shriek he made at the onset of each episode. Unofficially, it was a whole different beast.

Ryan shoved the conduit off of him. "If you know that, then you should know I've kicked the habit since Malachor. That name is mine now, and it has a new meaning behind it. Unfortunately for you, I'm not too keen on sharing at the moment."

Glaring Cole pressed further. "Then _why_ is your room coated in ice?"

Realizing that Cole truly didn't know that the Splicer King could literally fight in his sleep, Ryan gave his associate the short version. Cole listened but remained skeptical. "I believe you, Ryan, but this still sounds like the Raptor. Though I suppose if it was another episode, you wouldn't have reverted so soon after waking up." Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, Cole apologized. "Sorry for attacking you like that, but I had to be sure. How about this, I'll deal with the ice since I can literally make it go away, but if you have another one of these, I'm contacting your sister. Deal?" He held out a hand, lightning streaming along his arm to indicate he was serious.

Ryan activated his electro bolt plasmid and shook the conduit's sparking hand with his own. "Deal."

* * *

_Herschel System_

_MSV Fedele_

The moment they stepped through the airlock, a horrible smell assaulted Ryan and Garrus. It was just the two of them, seeing as it was Garrus' case and Ryan's ship. "By the Spirits!" Garrus whispered. "Organ harvesting doesn't make that kind of stench. What is this 'Dr. Heart' doing?"

Ryan held up a hand to halt their infiltration. "Let me find out." Closing his eyes, he used his scout plasmid to see what they were walking into. Sure enough, in the main hold, multiple creatures were shuffling about that made the freaks infected by the T-Virus look pretty. That comparison brought back memories of Alex Mercer's showdown with one Albert Wesker. The threat of global infection took backseat to their grudge match to prove which one had the superior virus. Watching those two go at it had been comedy gold.

Refocusing on the freaks in the next room, Ryan updated Garrus. "We've got… okay, I honestly have no idea what in hell we've got, but it ain't pleasant. I'll go in first. If they attack me, blow their brains out."

"Copy that."

Ryan opened the door, shotgun in hand, and waltzed up to the zombie-like monsters. "I hope you're planning to file a malpractice charge for that skin condition."

All moaning in tandem, the creatures began to run straight for Ryan. The Splicer King snapped his fingers and the nearest one burst into flames. Then he fired his shotgun to destroy another, and finally, Ryan teleported to a safe distance as Garrus scored a dual headshot on two more freaks. "I think we've found our mad scientist!" he yelled to his turian friend.

Switching to his assault rifle as the test subjects closed in, Garrus' flanging voice called out, "You don't need detective training to know that this is more than cloning organs!" He poured rounds into the horde of monsters, but it wasn't doing the trick fast enough. Suddenly, he became aware of movement on his right. One of the test subjects was just standing there. The turian was about to take advantage of its inactivity, but Ryan grabbed him from behind and yanked him away from the thing before Garrus could protest.

It was a good thing too, because less than a second later, the test subject vomited some putrid green liquid all over the space Garrus had just occupied. He was about to thank the Commander, but his words died in his throat.

Commander Ryan was standing in the middle of the hold, and without any signs of biotic power, he was somehow levitating all of the volatile canisters in the room. Somehow, the test subjects could tell that Ryan was the greater threat, and they converged on him. It changed nothing. Spinning the canisters around him in the air, the first of two "human" Spectres launched them at the subjects one by one, blowing them all apart.

Garrus was in awe. Such a display of power shouldn't be possible for anyone, let alone a human without biotics. Acting as if they hadn't just fought off a room full of zombies, the Commander motioned for Garrus to follow him. "If the good doctor is still alive, then he's back this way."

They guessed correctly on the first room. Not only was "Dr. Heart" inside, but so were a multitude of operating implements and bloodstains of all different colors, including dark red.

The salarian tried to play innocent. "Thank you! Thank you for saving me from those… things."

Garrus snarled. "Commander, that's him. That's Dr. Saleon."

As if he could pull of the act, the doctor continued. "W-what? My name is Heart. Dr. Heart. Please, get me out of here!"

Ryan twitched his fingers, setting his hand on fire for the intimidation factor. "I don't care what you call yourself. Besides, my ship has one insane geneticist too many as it is."

"There's no escape this time, Doctor. I'd harvest _your_ organs first, but we don't have the time." Suddenly, Ryan didn't like the direction this conversation was going quite as much.

Dr. Saleon was all but hyperventilating. "You're crazy." He turned to Ryan. "He's _crazy_! Please, don't let him do this to me!"

Ryan had tried for weeks now to make Garrus see reason, but this was the last straw. "Don't worry about dying just yet Saleon. You'll be answering to the proper authorities soon enough, and then you're looking at a life sentence. Of course, being a salarian, that's also just a really slow death sentence for you."

Garrus was sputtering. "B-but we _have_ him! We can't let him get away. Not again!"

The Splicer King rounded on his turian partner. "If you actually think this piece of dirt actually has the skill to escape me, let alone the rest of the crew, then I'm deeply insulted." Garrus' mandibles clicked tightly together. Ryan gestured at the gore-slicked operating room. "Look all around this place! We have him dead to rights, but you just want him dead! This isn't law, and I don't think it's even justice. You want to be judge, jury, and executioner, but that's just not how the system works!"

The turian was beginning to cave, and Ryan pressed even harder, pointing back towards the main hold. "What about those test subjects? We need their former names so we can offer condolences to any family. We need to know if there are others out there. Most importantly, we need to know how in the hell he even pulled that off! You saw the reports on the husks from Eden Prime. That was done with special geth technology. Until I know how this guy made a bunch of monsters just as nasty with homegrown shit in his personal lab, he's not gonna bleed one drop!"

Garrus was livid, but he couldn't fault the logic. Leveling his gaze on the scum in front of him, he rumbled. "You're a _very_ lucky salarian. You owe the Commander your life."

Unable to see just how fortunate he was, Saleon scoffed. "Oh, thank you so very much!" The madman reached for his pistol, intending to shoot his way out of this mess. The threat to his friend sent the Rapture-spawn into protection mode, just like Jack and Delta did for the Little Sisters. Tugging Garrus out of the way with his left hand, Ryan let the bullet hit his own shields while he opened fire on the deranged doctor with the shotgun in his right hand, catching Saleon in the chest. The Salarian died in seconds.

The ex-cop growled and pushed his Commander away. "And so he dies anyway. What's the point?"

Ryan sighed. "He attempted to kill us, which gave me every legal right to put him down. The law isn't meant to get in your way, Garrus. It's written for those who want to save lives, not take them. Please, I'm begging you to make that distinction." He remembered something that Eleanor had once said about her father, Subject "Johnny Topside" Delta, and he tried it with Garrus. "Mercy is victory, too."

Garrus gave this some serious thought. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Commander. I… I guess we're done here."

As the turian walked slowly back to the _Normandy_, Ryan chuckled. "'Never met anyone like me' huh? Anna DeWitt would _love_ to prove you wrong, Garrus. I'm literally one of millions.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_Docked with MSV Fedele_

The crew was all eager to leave, but the work wasn't done. Ryan had been serious about getting any information he could out of Dr. Saleon, and since he was dead, Cole had to read what was left on his synapses. This was just like old times for the four of them; just like the days before Columbia. Back on Revan's territory or Retronuke Earth, when the shooting had stopped, Alex would "interrogate" the living, Cole would glean what he could from the minds of the dead, and Ryan would plot their next move with Cortana's help. Also, after hearing that Ryan had not only refrained from killing Saleon and calling it a day, the Splicer King had actually talked Garrus out of doing the same. At least until the crazy little bastard had forced their hand.

While they were waiting for Cole's analysis, Alex was listening to Wrex talk about why he left Tuchanka. Wrex had been trying to do some good work after the Krogan Rebellions, but he was in the minority amongst Clan Urdnot. An old warlord and Wrex's father, Jarrod, was rallying krogan to fight, regardless of the opponent, while Wrex wanted to focus on breeding for at least one generation. The younger Urdnot was beginning to make his voice heard, but that changed when Jarrod arranged a Crush at the Hollows, krogan sacred ground. Wrex had known it was a trap, but he was respectful enough of tradition to meet his father anyway. When talking didn't seem to work, Jarrod signaled his men to attack from their hiding spots: the graves of their ancestors.

Wrex growled. "I escaped with my life, but not before I sank my dagger deep into my father's chest." After a moment's pause, the battlemaster continued. "_That_ is why I left. And _that_ is why I'll never go back."

"Damn," Alex said. "Does every alien on this ship have issues with their parents?" He held out his hand as he rattled off the list. "Tali is the daughter of an Admiral, and from what I can tell she doesn't get much in the way of affection from him. Liara's mother tried to kill us, even before that, they weren't talking, and she doesn't know who her "father" is at all. Garrus is on poor terms with his dad, since they have different ideologies about getting the job done in law enforcement. And you killed your father for his betrayal."

Wrex chuckled. "Don't say it like that's the end of my story, Alex. I've got some unfinished business with my family. It's all but a lost cause, but in some sad way, it's worth it."

Alex grinned manically. "You're not gonna leave me hanging are you?"

The warrior sighed. "Before I left, I swore an oath to my father's father. I swore to recover my family's battle armor. It was taken from him after the Rebellions."

The virus was genuinely curious now. "What's so important about the armor?"

"Five generations of Clan Urdnot wore that relic before the war," Wrex snarled. "And it's rightfully mine." The battlemaster looked off into the distance. "Originally, it was taken by the turian military. We weren't allowed to have armor or weapons after the Rebellions." His eyes refocused on Alex, and there was a fire burning in them. "Now it's in the hands of Tonn Actus. A turian scum who collects relics from the war. He's made millions selling krogan artifacts that were stolen from my people.

Wrex was getting worked up now, pacing back and forth in front of Alex. "He's got several bases where he stores his goods. All fortified and guarded. I just don't know which base has my family's armor."

"Give what you have to Ryan," Alex said with a smirk. "And we'll do that part for you."

Wrex leaned in close. "If you do, I want to be there when you find him."

The predator didn't move, nor did the smirk leave his face. "Oh, we'll do much more than 'find' that piece of shit."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_Departing MSV Fedele_

Cole was kind of upset to have wasted all this time searching the brain of a madman that knew nothing in the end. There were no useful facts regarding his test subjects anywhere on his synapses. It was more by mistake than anything that he'd turned them into feral zombie things. As the conduit was storming through the airlock, Joker called out to him.

"Hey, Cole! Alex, Master Chief, and Commander Ryan want to talk to you in the comm. room about something. Not Saren or Cerberus, but they seem all kinds of worked up about it."

The conduit sighed. "No rest for the wicked, eh?"

Joker snorted. "Yeah, at this rate Saren will drop dead of exhaustion for us, and we can call it a day."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Leaving Herschel System_

Cole walked in, fully expecting some kind of revenge for earlier, but instead he was greeted by three very focused Supernovas. "What the hell's this?"

Ryan barely looked up. "Now." That was Cortana's signal to loop video and audio, making whatever they did completely private. She was the only one that could get them discreet, reliable secrecy. Ryan could get similar results via plasmids, but they weren't always dependable. Cole's idea of privacy was to short out every device in range with electricity, and that all but screamed to the world that they had something to hide.

Alex looked at his electric associate. "Wrex has a list of bases where a _leech_ could have locked away his family armor. We're going to get it back. You want in?"

"Hell yes." Cole didn't even need to think about it. "Leech" was Supernova slang for those who sold anything of historical value for a profit. There was nothing that insulted Old Man Pendragon more, and as such, they struck these kinds of people down with a vengeance that made Greek gods look weak. Now another one had popped up, and he'd incurred the wrath of all four Supernovas, plus a krogan of Supernova class.

"Narrowing the search based on Actus' known comm. traffic," Cortana announced. "I've got it. Tuntau in the Phoenix system of the Argos Rho cluster."

Alex took the data from Cortana onto his omni-tool. "End the loop." Once they were back to live footage, he called out to their pilot. "Joker! Plot a course for the Phoenix system and tell Wrex to prepare for battle with a new krantt." They all stormed out of the comm. room together. This was something that made the job worthwhile.

* * *

_Tuntau_

_Tonn Actus' Main Base_

The snipers were the first to go. It was too risky to drop the Mako with Cole altering its descent from the roof if Actus' men were likely to shoot his brains out in the process. Thus, Ryan teleported directly to the planet's surface, and he was currently standing at the base's front barricade with over a dozen guns pointed at him. "Get those things out of my face," the Splicer King ordered. "Would you kindly?"

That was the signal for both other teams to get moving. The Normandy began its approach vector, preparing to drop the Mako right on Actus' worthless ass. Wrex was in the Mako. Cole was on the Mako. Alex jumped alongside the Mako.

The Master Chief was the second team. Ryan had taken him along when he teleported, and he left the Spartan in the distant cliffs. The moment Ryan had said those three notorious words, the Chief went to work. With Cortana reloading the assassination feature immediately after each use, it was one shot, one kill for each man in a sniper tower. "Snipers are down, _Normandy_. Drop the rest of the team."

Of course, now the pressure was on Ryan until they landed. Chief's inhuman accuracy was helpful, but he couldn't shoot anyone on the far side of the base. Those safe from the Spartan's aim had no such troubles taking shots at the Splicer King. Rounding off into a series of back handsprings, Ryan evaded their fire before kicking into the air and teleporting away. He rematerialized behind them, unleashing a torrent of flame from each palm. They never stood a chance.

By now, only a handful of men were left outside, but they were heavily armed with rockets and shotguns. It ceased to matter when the Mako landed less than twenty feet away, Wrex already shooting and Cole dropping the wrath of the sky on all remaining pirates.

Wrex jumped out of the tank, and Alex came running up. From here on out, they were in charge.

Alex would have loved to kick in the door for extra effect, but he didn't want to risk killing Actus via atmospheric suffocation. No, he wanted to do this slowly with his bare hands. Allowing Wrex stomped in first, followed by an invisible Ryan and Chief, Alex and Cole brought up the rear.

"Tonn Actus!" Wrex bellowed. "I'm here to reclaim what's mine!" He was making a scene while the Spartan and Splicer King moved to the other end of the room.

The turian leech laughed arrogantly. "I don't know how in the Spirits you got past my perimeter, krogan, but do you really think this will end in your favor? You're here to take that hunk of junk I've got lined up to sell? You and what army?"

Wrex sneered. "I was hoping you'd say that."

The Master Chief appeared first, snapping a pirate's neck before opening fire with his assault rifle. A carnage blast came his way at one point, but the Spartan raised his left arm and generated a hardlight shield in front of him. The projectile hit the blue wall of energy and exploded harmlessly. Chief dropped the shield and returned to pouring rounds downrange.

Ryan appeared next, decapitating a salarian and lighting another on fire with a snap of his fingers. When a rocket came at him, the Splicer King telekinetically hurled it back, catching the sender and two others standing by his side. Idiots.

Cole had jumped onto a set of crates, which he clung to with the fingers on one hand while hurling ice and lightning at the pirates on the balcony with the other. This was a trick that had never failed back on Conduit Earth.

Wrex was deeply enjoying being a proper battlemaster with a krantt again. Perhaps it held less weight when each of them was either his equal or his superior in combat, but it was touching that Alex had convinced them to fight at his command this one time. He named a target, and the hunter instantly killed it. And then the scum joined the fight personally.

That's when Alex lost his shit. "That little shit is _mine_!" he screamed, shattering a pillar that had been blocking his path. The two pirates on either side were butchered without hesitation, but Actus was getting the painful death. Ignoring the shotgun blasts that the thug unleashed into his head and chest, Alex grabbed him by the throat with one hand, and turned the other to a claw before grabbing Actus by the fringe. Slowly, but steadily, the virus tugged the crest further away from the turian's scalp. Finally the metallic flesh gave way with a resounding _crack_, splitting the pirate's skull wide open.

Alex proceeded to consume Actus, and as the rest of the team mopped up the stragglers, he calmly walked to the safe with Wrex's armor. Punching in the access code, he handed the contents over to Wrex.

"This is it," the krogan said with a strange sense of calm. Then he sighed. "I can't believe my ancestors ever _wore_ this piece of crap, but at least I've got it back."

Alex grinned. "Trust me, it was my pleasure to help you, not to mention a damn good fight."

Wrex huffed. "Keep talking like that and you'll make me blush." He shook his head. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

There was laughter all around as the five warriors left the ruins of Actus' base. Today, another idiot had learned the hard way not to piss off the Supernovas.

As the _Normandy_ touched down, Joker radioed in. "Hey, Commander! Cole! We've finally got something useful from Udina. Wonders never cease, right? He says that there's definite geth activity on the colony of Feros."

Ryan and Cole gave each other an electric fist bump, and Ryan responded, "Then it's Feros or bust, Joker. Let's get the Mako on board and go blow up some geth!"

This was answered with a round of cheers and applause. The _Normandy_ team was back on the hunt.

* * *

**I think this could have been much better. On the other hand, it was already better than I had expected, so that's a plus. Don't judge me too harshly for some parts, since I was up late when writing some of this. *Yawns***

**For anyone worried that Ryan has some hidden dark side: _D__on't._ That's not what I'm going for. Just imagine him with all his power acting just like a Big Daddy when you piss it off. Unpleasant for enemies, but wicked cool to watch.**

**Don't forget to visit my profile if you haven't answered the poll yet.**

**Otherwise: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	25. Just Like the Wasteland

**I am so sorry about the wait. There were a lot of technical difficulties. Without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of the Feros arc. Character growth, new revelations, flashbacks, action, drama, gardening, we've got it all!**

**I must warn you that starting in June, my future is looking kind of weird. There's some traveling involved, a job with regular hours, and ridiculously screwy internet where I'm going. I'll still post as often as possible. I love writing this story too much. Unfortunately, there are certain Type A elements in my life that don't agree…**

**ONE MORE NOTE. I know that all the tunnels on the Feros colony assignments lead in the same direction, but that's boring and unrealistic. Imagine, if you will, that each objective lies along a different winding tunnel. The two assignment teams will go in separate directions to deal with the colony's problems, and the mission team will go to Exogeni Headquarters while they're at it.**

**Summary: With a solid lead on Saren's geth, the **_**Normandy**_** touches down on Feros, but the place is already under attack. There's nothing of obvious value, and the colonists aren't talking for whatever reason. Looks like the Supernovas are getting some answers the hard way.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype, Halo series, Bioshock series, and Fallout.**

**Disclaimer: We're still doing this? *Lawyer nods* Fine, I don't own any of the media you guys see on this page. *Lawyer smiles and nods***

* * *

Just Like the Wasteland

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Orbiting Feros_

Ryan sighed. This was already going to be a long day, and they had yet to fire a shot. "So you're telling me there's _nothing_ to warrant a geth attack? Nothing at all?"

Kaidan checked his omni-tool again before shaking his head. "Sorry, Commander, but there's just nothing here. Udina's message only said the geth were attacking, and all public records say the same thing: Feros is barely worth the effort to colonize."

Cole snorted. "Obviously the colonists disagree. If the place sucks, then you get out of Dodge, but from the sound of things, these colonists are digging in their heels instead."

Tali shrugged. "On behalf of a race that has already lost its homeworld to the geth, I can assure you their resolve is perfectly understandable."

"Maybe if it was actually their homeworld, but this is a colony" Wrex huffed. "People only stay and fight this long when there's something worth dying for."

Liara looked at the krogan, confused. "What do you mean 'this long'? We only just learned about the attack."

Leaning back in his chair, Garrus fielded the naïve question. "Exactly. So imagine how long ago it actually happened _before_ anyone found out and forwarded the details to us. My guess is that Saren rolled through at least five days ago."

"Garrus, you saw the reports on Eden Prime," Ashley challenged. "If it's been five days, then there'd be nothing left by now."

"Eden Prime was different," Alex said in a bored tone. "We'd found the beacon for them, so the hard part was done already. All they had to do was light the place on fire. The fact that there's a colony left standing implies the geth are still searching on behalf of their turian 'prophet'. Find out what they're searching _for_, and maybe we'll get some answers." He looked to the ceiling. "Joker, how far out are we?"

"ETA: ten minutes, Doctor Death. There's nobody responding to my hails, but I've got access to a docking bay."

"Any sign of Saren's flagship?" Ryan asked. If that Sovereign thing was here, then they'd need backup from Arcturus to save the colony in time.

"Negative, Commander."

Ryan sighed again. If there was one thing he hated more than politicians it was being one step behind his enemy. Everything about this felt wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out _why_. It was driving him mad. "Alright, take us in. I want Tali for anti-geth, Kaidan for tactical support, and Ashley for heavy combat. Cole, this is a crumbling Prothean skyscraper, so put those urban exploration skills to good use. The rest of you, remain on standby and get ready to earn your pay once we've established a foothold. Let's go!"

Nobody had to be asked twice.

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Docking Bay_

It hit Cole like a ton of bricks the second he stepped out of the airlock with Ryan, Tali, Kaidan, and Ashley. Despite being above the damn clouds, he could see, hear, smell, feel, and even _taste_ the resemblance in the air. "Back in the Wasteland," he whispered, visibly tensing at the flood of memories, both good and bad.

"What's that, Cole?" Ashley inquired, startling the conduit. "You're mumbling. Care to share?"

Cole looked to see Ryan glaring daggers at him. This was a _horrible_ time to blow it. "I said 'let's go lend a hand.'" Ashley seemed to buy it, and that made Cole feel worse. They'd been on this job for so long now, and to lie this effortlessly was unbecoming. "_Can we even call Shepard's territory a job anymore?_" Cole thought to himself. "_I mean, we've technically been living here for years. When did we last stay on-territory for this damn long?_"

The Prime Conduit was shaken from his thoughts by the Splicer King. "Somebody's come to greet us, it seems." He nodded to a human male of possible Arabic descent waving at them.

Cole's eyes widened. "And there's a squad of geth behind him! Dude, look-"

The warning came too late as the man got blown apart by a shock trooper's carnage blast. What remained was beyond saving. Cole lost it, no longer on Feros, but in the Capital Wasteland, facing down a team of Enclave soldiers. "Take them out!" he screamed, tossing electrocution grenades at the metallic murderers. Each one passed a current over a large area of ground to briefly keep victims stunned on the spot. It gave the rest of the squad time to get to work while Cole regained his senses.

Tali dropped to cover and began fiddling with her omni-tool while Ashley gave her covering fire. With the geth distracted by an attack from one of their own, Ryan threw a gravity well plasmid downrange. The gravity well kept them suspended helplessly in the air until Kaidan detonated it with a warp field, just like on Eden Prime. It was over in seconds. They were getting good at this.

"Keelah, five minutes," Tali muttered. "Is it so hard for us to have _five_ _minutes_ of peace before things go south on these missions?"

Ryan laughed. "My quarian friend, be grateful you get five _seconds_ before the bullets begin to fly." Cole knew he was vaguely referring to Retronuke Earth, in all its violent glory. It wasn't helping to conduit's state of mind.

The next room had contained several advanced hopper platforms, but Cole, a seasoned parkour practitioner, leveled the playing field by climbing the walls to meet them head on. For added flair, he swung from his vantage point to kick the last of them in the face. Down below, Ryan casually pulled Tali out of the crashing synthetic's path. Shocked by the motion, Tali tried regaining her balance and ended up placing both her arms on Ryan's chest.

As per usual, Tali began stuttering incessantly, but once she realized that Ryan was enjoying her embarrassment, she stopped. Glaring, Tali said, "That one's _your_ fault for not warning me ahead of time," before turning on her heels and heading up the stairs.

Despite the teasing this instantly brought down on his head, Ryan was smirking. He was glad to see that Tali was coming out of her shell, so to speak. "Alright, alright, enough. Let's find somebody in charge at this place."

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Main Colony_

Finding the man in charge wasn't very difficult. Especially when all anyone said to them was "Go see Fai Dan." It was helpful the first two times, but flat out annoying – and suspicious – after the seventh. Upon reaching the unofficial leader of the colony, they had barely gotten two words in before it was back to work.

"We've got geth in the tower!" Arcelia yelled.

Fai Dan visibly paled and shouted, "Protect the heart of the colony!"

Ryan found this to be a strange motivational phrase when the "heart" of Zhu's Hope was a defunct freighter being used for housing. Filing it away for later, he gave out orders. "Kaidan, stay here and see what the situation is. This colony's in bad shape, so when I get back, be ready to tell me just _how_ bad." Pulling out his shotgun and coating his left hand in ice, the Splicer King grinned. "Everyone else, prep for close quarters and move out."

The four moved into the tower, eager to scrap some geth. They made short work of the geth on the stairs, but it was the entrance point that had them worried. A massive dropship was deploying them in waves through a hole in the ceiling. It was a brilliant tactical insertion strategy, and it had turned coordinated fighting into a brutal free-for-all, but Ryan didn't feel like admiring his enemies at the moment. That ship was the source of all geth currently on Feros, and it needed to burn. "Cole, bring it down!" he demanded, expecting the conduit to drop lightning on the thing from above.

Cole shook his head while frying a group of freshly-dropped synthetics. "No good, Ryan! I don't have access to a lightning storm from indoors." Encasing a destroyer in ice for Tali to hack it, he broke the temporary ally free with a shockwave and turned to face the Splicer King. "And unfortunately, with that ship blocking the only available sky, this place officially counts as indoors."

"You can't be serious!" Ryan shouted. He flipped a shock trooper over his shoulder and vented it with a shotgun blast.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Pardon me boys, but I'll be doing this the old fashioned way." Setting her assault rifle to overkill, the marine dove out of cover, raining hell on all the geth that had only just been deployed. They sparked, staggered, and fell, one after another. The kill count on Feros for Gunnery Chief Williams was in the twenties after that stunt. All that remained was the hacked destroyer, which was reduced to a smoking heap by Tali's shotgun. A massive rumbling shook the room as the dropship left their sight.

Dusting herself off, Tali sighed. "Mission accomplished… for now."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, we should check back with Fai Dan and Alenko and see where to go from there."

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Main Colony Return_

_Tactical Assessment_

"Let me get this straight," Ryan said slowly to his Lieutenant. "This place is in such bad enough shape that you brought the _Normandy_'s entire remaining squad into the picture?"

Kaidan shrugged. "It was Alex's idea. That dropship was preventing communication with you sir, so when he contacted me and asked for a 'fucking sitrep,' my life expectancy depended on my response."

Several laughs came from the group of ten fighters. Ryan shook his head. "Alright then, Lieutenant. Let's hear it." It was an impromptu test, putting the man on the spot, but Ryan expected the Alliance sentinel to pass.

Kaidan projected a surface map of Zhu's Hope and the surrounding region from his omni-tool for everyone to see. Then he lit up certain sections along the colony. Pointing to one of these sections he began, "These are the problems at the moment. Obviously there's the geth as a whole, but more immediately is the concern of a geth transmitter set up in these tunnels. I think it goes without saying that it's heavily guarded." Motioning to the display of a barely-functional power grid he continued. "This place is running on fumes, and before you offer Cole, they need a more permanent solution. The tunnels again have our answer, but before I explain, let me tell you about another problem." He looked around the circle of Novas and Supernovas. "These people are out of food. They're supplementing rations with varren meat, but that plan's gone to hell with a rabid alpha appearing on the scene." He moved the display over to a section of tunnel with an empty chamber on one side. "Davin Reynolds told me that the varren were all gathered here, but even better, a downed Grizzly tank is there too. Its power cells can be cannibalized to work for the colony's generator, and the varren can be taken out by whoever goes to secure it. Two birds with one stone." Taking a deep breath, Kaidan moved on to the last problem, bringing up an image of the aqueduct complex running up to Zhu's Hope. "This thing is a mess. It needs to be restored at multiple locations, and the geth aren't keen on making that easy. Unfortunately, if left alone, the colony doesn't get any water, and they'll die even without an attack from the geth."

Impressed, Ryan reassumed control. "Good work, LT. Unfortunately, this still leaves the main reason we're here. We'll need to divide and conquer to save Feros." He turned to his team. "Alex, I want you on this varren meat situation. Prove who the real alpha is. Liara, you and Kaidan go with him to handle the power cell. You three will be Team 2. Chief, take Garrus and Wrex and scrap that transmitter. It looks like the water valves are along your way, so try and get them reactivated. You guys are Team 3. Everyone else, with me. We're gonna take the fight to the geth, but first we need to know where they are. Fai Dan may have some insight there."

They broke into teams and went to work, but not before Alex pulled his splicer associate to the side. "Why in the hell are you sidelining me like this? Cole doesn't have an endless supply of energy, and you know it. What's up?"

Ryan looked to the side before leaning in close. "What comes to mind when you see this place?" he whispered. "What's the first word that pops into your head?"

The predator thought for a moment before his eyes widened considerably. "The place is like a _vault_ from Retronuke Earth. Shit. Okay, so you want me to find some answers?"

The Splicer King nodded. "And do it carefully. The colonists are being shifty and evasive, but from what I can gather, it's not their choice. It's a two-pronged hunt for answers. Radio in when you have something, but the varren meat comes first. When you return from killing the alpha, it won't arouse suspicion. After that, silently find something – anything – that lets us know what we're dealing with. I say silently, because otherwise you'll employ the subtlety of a brick. You get me?"

Alex processed all of this pretty much instantly, and nodded. Motioning to his biotic backup, he set off for the tunnels. Ryan's relief at diffusing a potential mess was short-lived, as he immediately turned around to find Cole glaring at him. "Working together in a ruined wasteland, eh Ryan? Just like old times, except for one thing."

Ryan knew what Cole was going to say, but he humored him anyway. "And what's that?"

The conduit rolled his eyes. "Back then, you had my complete trust. This time? Not so much."

"I figured you'd say that," Ryan said, grinning like an idiot. "I don't expect to win it back in a few days, Cole, but I'm hoping this will help." He stopped grinning and looked at the shorter Supernova without a trace of humor. "We compromise. You can call the shots, and I'll do the heavy lifting. That implant from Retronuke Earth will give you an edge here too, but this still _isn't_ the Wasteland." Ryan closed his eyes and paused, searching for the right words. "Feros has similarities, I get it. But all the nostalgia is distracting you and it's gonna get somebody killed. That 'somebody' will most likely be you. You need a foolproof source of electricity for an emergency boost." He held up a fist full of lightning. "I'm the closest thing you have to a portable generator on this mission, so yes, you're stuck with me. I don't expect you to trust me as a friend yet, but trust me as a successful operator who doesn't want anyone on his team to get hurt. Okay?" By now Ryan was borderline pleading.

Sighing, Cole shook the electrified hand, absorbing some of the charge. "Fine. Olive branch accepted. Just stop looking at me like I kicked your dog."

The Splicer King grinned again. "If I recall correctly, MacGrath, you _did_ kick my dog."

Cole chuckled at this. "Rex still belonged to the King at the time, Ryan. And I didn't kick him. I was fixing his circuits."

For the first time in years, Prime Conduit and Splicer King shared a true laugh.

"We can come back later if this is a bad time, boys…" Ashley's amused voice pierced the nostalgic tone surrounding the two men. They looked to see that the Gunnery Chief was approaching and Tali wasn't far behind. Luckily, it didn't seem like they heard anything they shouldn't have.

"I'm not even going to comment on how screwed up that sounded, Ash," Cole chuckled. "What did Fai Dan say? Anything useful this time?"

"The ExoGeni building is apparently where the geth have set up shop, Commander," Tali stated. "It's up the elevator and across the Prothean Skyway, so Joker is prepping the Mako for us now."

Ryan lit his hand on fire, letting it match the excitement in his eyes. "Then let's get to work."

* * *

_Feros_

_Tunnels_

_Team 2_

_Leader: Alex_

Despite his protests, Alex was actually quite eager to hunt down the alpha varren. If the dog was man's best friend, then the varren were the krogan equivalent, making it a fun experience. Plus, if it was rabid, then this would be all the more entertaining. He felt a sense of déjà vu wash over him as he strode towards the end of the ancient Prothean tunnel. It was just like the old days…

* * *

_Flashback_

_Retronuke Earth Job_

_2281, Mojave Wasteland_

_Bloodborne Cave_

_Alex smirked as he walked into the dank cavern. Red Lucy had pointed him here, expecting him to bring her the eggs of several nightstalkers for the Thorn. She recognized that he was an unparalleled hunter and had hired the virus immediately. He wasn't complaining, especially since she was paying him to do the very thing that he lived for: hunt and kill._

_Closing his eyes and concentrating, the predator sensed movement and swiveled on his heels, striking with a claw to tear apart the first of many nighstalkers. Now, they came en masse, and he welcomed the fight, cutting and shredding with nothing but bloodlust on his mind._

_That was when a searing pain ripped through his left arm. Correction, it ripped __**off**__ his left arm. There stood the rumored Legendary Nightstalker, venom dripping from its snakelike teeth. "Big mistake Fido!" Alex roared, shifting to his right claw to a whipfist. As the beast charged him a second time, the virus sidestepped, kicked it into the air, grabbed it out of the air with the whipfist, and launched it straight at the far wall. The spliced affront to nature died instantly._

_Picking his arm up off the ground, he allowed tens of thousands of biomass filaments to reconnect the limb. "Maybe she'll give me a challenge next," Alex muttered. "The pay is good, but with Cole still out investigating that 'Sierra Madre' broadcast, I'm bored. Well, I haven't seen many deathclaws in the Thorn recently…"_

_End Flashback_

* * *

The sound of a heavy door sliding open jolted Alex back to his present situation. He could already hear the growling, but this pack of varren was smart enough to let prey come to them. Unfortunatly, the first and only male Blacklight runner was _not_ prey.

Alex threw himself into the chamber, slaughtering the varren. They had the numbers to swarm him, but against the virus, it was irrelevant. Ignoring their biting, he shifted to his whipfist and lashed out in a wide sweeping motion that cut apart every last one of his scaly attackers.

Except that hadn't been the last. It took all of a second for Alex to look over each corpse, and realize that the alpha wasn't among them. It took another three seconds for him to realize that Liara and Kaidan were already moving for the power cells. On the fifth second, he heard the alpha varren roar from the other end of the room as it charged the _Normandy_'s resident asari. That didn't sit well with the Blacklight virus at all.

Spinning on the balls of his feet, Alex fired his whipfist straight at the charging alpha, nailing it to the stone wall behind it. The shocked beast bled out quickly. Alex scanned the room for Kaidan, and when he saw the sentinel enter through the door, he raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Where the fuck have you been Lieutenant?"

Kaidan gestured to the tunnel he'd just come from. "Take a look for yourself while Liara and I get to work on these power cells."

Choosing to indulge the man, Alex waltzed back out into the tunnels. The sight before him was beautiful. A mix of Nimbus and Infantry-class geth platforms were strewn all across the walkway, and not one of them was still moving. With a pistol, an L2 implant, and an omni-tool, Lieutenant Alenko had just trounced their synthetic asses.

Alex turned around, his trademark psychotic grin etched into his face. "It's about damn time you stopped holding back, Kaidan. How are those power cells coming?"

Liara groaned as she stood up. "We have them Alex, but the trip back will require us to carry them by hand. Are you up to playing bodyguard?"

The hunter grinned. "After the number of times I've saved your ass, Blue, I don't think it's considered 'playing' anymore."

Laughter echoed throughout the chamber as they made their way back to Zhu's Hope, but inside, Alex was conflicted. The only other person in any territory that he'd gone to such lengths to protect was Dana Mercer, his sister. _"It's obvious that Liara cares for me, but I shouldn't encourage it. And yet, I've gone so far as giving her a nickname, actively conversing with her, hell I've even been there to __**comfort**__ her, and I'm a damn sociopath!"_ the virus thought to himself. _"It's all a bad idea, and it'll hurt and betray her that much more when the job's done. So why do I bother? If it's only going to end in pain, why do I persist? Above all, why the hell do I even care?!"_

Alex's eye twitched slightly as he came to a conclusion._ "Shit. I'm not just going soft. __**I'm going human.**__"_

This new revelation had Alex extremely worked up. He needed to butcher something, and it just so happened that more geth were standing between him and the colony…

* * *

_Feros_

_Tunnels_

_Team 3_

_Leader: Master Chief_

The water valves had been easy enough, and with Cortana's subtle help, the Master Chief was having no trouble leading his squad to the geth transmitter. He was, however, having _plenty_ of trouble being _followed_ by a pair of aliens.

He took a brief moment to admire what Uniques had been able to do. They found the outliers. Those that stood out from the norm in both mind and body. In Retronuke Earth, it was the intelligent super mutants Fawkes and Marcus, the progressive Brotherhood scribe Veronica, and the patriotic – yet cynical – whiskey-loving Rose-of-Sharon Cassidy, just to a couple. The NCR would never tolerate the Brotherhood of Steel, and vice-versa. The Brotherhood of Steel would never tolerate the super mutants. And the super mutants, at least in the Capital Wasteland, would never tolerate _anyone_. Yet it didn't matter, because the Uniques had found those outliers.

It was the same here. Turian-human relations were tense at best. Krogan-turian relations involved bullets. Krogan thought humans were soft like all other aliens, and humans thought krogan were dull brutes. The gruff respect bordering on friendship that existed between Wrex and Garrus proved that they were outliers among their kind. The fact that they'd take orders from the Master Chief, a human, was the clincher.

Still, the closest that John had come to cooperating with actual aliens in the past was the Sangheili, led by the Arbiter. This was a big step for him, and it took some getting used to, even after all this time. What was here that made Unique Shepard choose him? It was a territory where aliens were okay, but AI were unacceptable. This was against every fiber of the Spartan's being, but Unique Shepard was also _Commander_ Shepard, and years of military training demanded that the John respect the chain of command. He knew Uniques didn't choose Supernovas lightly, so there was a reason John – and by extension, Cortana – was here. He didn't have the curiosity to search for it, but he still wanted to know sooner than later.

"You're sure that the tech used to make those propulsion packs isn't turian?" Garrus asked suddenly, breaking the Chief's train of though. "It's practically the same as our-"

The Master Chief suddenly held up a hand for silence. Drawing his assault rifle, he dove into the next hallway, aimed his rifle at the source of his concern, and pointed it away just as fast. "Are you one of the colonists?" he asked a man standing idle in the tunnels.

Ian looked at the massive green suit of armor that had sprung into action mere moments ago. For the first time in a long while, genuine hope surged through him, but it was crushed just as quickly with mind-shredding pain. "Aaarrrgghhh!"

"Huh," Wrex said, almost amused. "I guess I'm not the intimidating one anymore."

"Wrex," Garrus droned. "You were _never_ the intimidating one. That position is filled by Alex Mercer."

"You don't understand," Ian began, gasping for breath. "You don't scare me. Nothing can scare me like- aaaaaaiiiiiiieeeee!" It continued on like this for another two minutes before enough was enough. Before the Master Chief could walk away, however, the voice in his head arrived.

Cortana appeared on the Spartan's HUD and began a private conversation. "I don't think that's fear at all, Chief. He's got some kind of neural infection according to scans, but I can't get any details." She frowned. "It's strange. There's a problem one minute, but the next, he's totally fine, madness notwithstanding. We should alert the others about this when we get the chance."

Before the Chief could respond, Cortana's eyes widened. "Look sharp! His mania attracted some attention. The geth guarding the transmitter know you're out here, and they ain't happy!"

The Spartan shoved Ian out of the line of fire before turning to face the new arrivals. "Contact right!" he growled, expecting his two gun-toting allies to pull their weight. It was a handful of geth drones and a few shock troopers, and they went down quickly under the barrage of fire. Cortana had stealthily thrown in a few hacks for good measure.

"Damn," Wrex muttered. "I was hoping for more of a fight than that." The Master Chief didn't even reply before tearing into the room the geth had emerged from. Wrex grinned. "I guess that means there _is_ more of a fight. Come on turian."

"Yeah, unlike the two of you, I'll do my killing from a distance, thanks." Garrus was setting up to fire into the room from right outside, just like at Chora's Den.

The krogan grumbled something that sounded like "your loss" before entering the room. What the two friendly rivals saw was beyond them.

"By the Spirits."

"Blood of Shiagur."

The super-soldier was running directly toward three krogan warriors. They couldn't possibly see how even he could win this at close quarters. Then the thrusters on Master Chief's back opened up, but instead of going vertically, the Spartan was propelled horizontally. Forearms out in front, Chief knocked all three krogan down like bowling pins. Turning around quickly, he planted a giant boot on one, blew the head off another with his shotgun, and then finished the one still under his foot with a merciless stomp. By now, the last of them had gotten back to his feet and charged the Spartan, shotgun blaring. It was futile against the Chief's shields, and while a krogan of Wrex's caliber might have knocked him down, this lizard was three hundred pounds lighter than the green powerhouse. The Master Chief tore the gun out of the warrior's grip, smashed it over his head, strapped a grenade disc on the krogan, and kicked him into the far wall where he exploded magnificently. "Room clear," the Spartan announced.

"I'll say. You definitely didn't take that tech from the Hierarchy's Armiger Legion, Chief," Garrus stated. "Whatever you have there is far better."

"Thanks." The massive man said before motioning towards the entrance. "Keep lookout. I'll see what I can take from this thing before scrapping it." The turian nodded and went to stand watch by Wrex.

Though Cortana was really doing all the work, the Spartan pulled out his omni-tool to make it look like he wasn't just standing there. "First of all, Chief," Cortana said, reappearing on his HUD. "You just _thanked_ an alien. I'm proud of you."

John's eyes widened. He hadn't even noticed. In that moment, Garrus hadn't been an alien that vaguely resembled the Sangheili, but a wisecracking sniper with aim almost equal to Linda's. It had happened so naturally, and that scared him. "I…" the Spartan didn't know what to say.

Cortana smiled. "It's okay, Chief. I get it. You're just growing accustomed to Commander Shepard's territory. There's nothing wrong with that." She stopped smiling. "For you, at least." Before her Spartan could even think to respond, the smart AI, she continued. "Second, this thing is downright impossible to decrypt without innate knowledge of the geth neural network. I can't tell you much, but I know that it's sending large quantities of data back to the geth base on this planet. I'm also catching one phrase that can't be encrypted quite right. Obviously it's something they don't have a word for. This transmitter is sending and receiving the word 'Thorian' with every communications burst. I'd like to think that's a good place to start looking for answers."

"Good find," Chief said. "I'll radio the others once we're done here."

The blue woman sighed. "I don't like blowing this thing up when I could hack it. Unfortunately, that hack requires direct interface, and I doubt we could get that past Garrus and Wrex." It had been agreed upon that, no matter what happened, Cortana would be the absolute last thing they would _ever_ expose to anyone on this territory. It was barely okay that Hackett and Anderson knew about her at all. Of course, that was Ryan's fault.

Without any more to gather from the transmitter, the Chief pulled out his shotgun again and blew it apart. Activating his comm. link, the Spartan began broadcasting. "Sierra One-One-Seven to all teams: The geth are interested in something only known as the 'Thorian' in their transmissions. We have no indications of what it could possibly be or why they want it, but it is likely their only reason for being on Feros. One-One-Seven, out."

Alex was the first to respond. _"Team 2 copies all, Master Chief. I'll make a quiet investigation. See if you can do the opposite, what with the menacing individuals you have alongside you."_ Then, in a much more hushed voice, the virus continued. _"I'd advise that nobody on Team 2 or Team 3 use that exact word that you found in the transmission. The colonists are acting twitchy enough as it is, so the last thing we need to do is drop names that could cause more problems than they solve. Blacklight out."_

"_Not true for Team 3,"_ Ryan remarked, finally joining the conversation. _"We're finally in the Mako and we're heading to the ExoGeni HQ right now. If it gets us what we need, I'll drop that name like a ninety ton hammer. Rapture out."_

Master Chief motioned for Garrus and Wrex to follow him. "Time to shake the tree?" Garrus asked.

The super soldier nodded, and Wrex chuckled at the turian's excitement. "Don't sound too happy, Garrus. We might have to shoot whatever falls out."

The failed C-Sec agent had an eager gleam in his eye. "Exactly."

Wrex laughed even harder as the Spartan led them back to Zhu's Hope. "I never thought I'd be saying this to a _turian_, but you, Vakarian, have a serious quad."

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Team 2_

_Leader: Alex Mercer_

The word "Thorian" had him cringing in pain, but Alex refused to let it be known. The word assaulted his mind with concepts of respect, awe, and a little bit of terror. Whatever Saren was looking for, it had worried the _Protheans_, and now he had to find it. "The air feels so damn familiar. It really is like a Vault here with no way out and perfect observation from- shit." He slapped a hand over his face in realization. This place was a testing ground and the Thorian had something to do with it. He had to find out fast, and the colonists were his best bet. He needed to proceed carefully though. Alex quickly put together a plan. "I've got to do this right on the first try, or everyone will be paying the price." Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the virus grinned manically. "The hunt begins."

* * *

_Feros_

_Prothean Skyway_

_Team 3_

_Leader: Cole MacGrath_

Apparently, destroying that transmitter was really good way to piss off the geth. As Ryan, Tali, and Ashley climbed into the Mako and Cole hopped on top, the dropship screamed across the high-altitude bridge, raining destroyers, rocket troopers, juggernauts, armatures, and a colossus on the road ahead. This was gonna be one hell of a drive.

"Oh, bosh'tet!" Tali exclaimed, startling everyone. "I just realized that _Commander Ryan_ is behind the wheel again!"

"Ladies and Cole, we are now prepared for departure," Ryan announced with a smirk. "If this is not your intended destination, and you wish to exit the vehicle… Too bad!" With that, the Splicer King floored it, and Cole knew the truth. Maybe it would be one hell of a ride…

But like always in the Wasteland, it would be _the best_.

* * *

**I know the Thorian wasn't exposed yet at this point, but have faith in me. I'm setting it up to diverge from how Shepard operated on Feros, and it will be done in ways you'll have to read to believe. I don't mean action-wise, though. The discovery of certain things at ExoGeni will make certain Supernovas genuinely remorseful, in some cases personally conflicted, and even downright **_**scared**_**. You'll see some real depth to these guys that I don't often show, and I really expect it to be good.**

**And yes, those last two sentences are a minor reference to the end of Mass Effect 3: Citadel.**

**Until then, Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**And here's a little something to make up for my absence. It's from the next chapter.**

* * *

The krogan warlord charged straight at them. "I really need to kill something!" he bellowed.

Cole grinned. "He's all yours, Ryan."

The Splicer King calmly walked forward, ignoring Tali and Ashley's hysterical screaming. The krogan was on him, and that's when Ryan went into motion, giving mental thought to each action.

"_Hook strike across eye ridge to blind target."_ His right combat hook sliced apart the warlord's capacity for sight. _"Teleport away from rising arms and shotgun."_ Shattering from existence, Ryan had evaded the krogan's crushing blows. _"Rematerialize in same position. Use both hooks to sever primary nervous system at the throat."_ The Splicer King reappeared in the exact same spot before sinking his hooks into the warlord's throat. _"Electro bolt to cancel blood rage."_ A simple lightning strike from his left hand stopped the krogan's second wind before it even began. _"Quad kick."_ He nutted the warlord, sending the big guy to his knees. _"Sink hooks into each side of head plate, and twist. Neck will be snapped. Krogan will be dead._

Ramming his right hook into the right side of the plate and the left hook into the other, Ryan spun around, forcing the krogan's head to turn at an impossible angle, producing a sickening cracking sound. Retrieving his hooks and wiping them off, The Splicer King looked at Cole. "Next time, why don't you just blow it up with a lightning rocket?

* * *

**Yes this is a direct reference to both Sherlock Holmes and Thane's preferred method of assassinating krogan. Good day all.**


	26. Please Keep Off the Grass

**And we're back for the next chapter in the Feros arc. I hope you enjoy.**

**I have a few random announcements this time. One is that the dialogue is now a little weird. It goes like this:**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts, flashback speech, or comm. chatter"_

"_**Mind controlling life form thoughts/speech**__" _(including but not limited to the Thorian)

**Okay now consider what the Thorian is and what it does. Let's look at what the Supernovas present have dealt with in the past:**

**Cole: Sasha's mind control tar, turning regular people into her personal army.**

**Alex: the Infected Hive Mind, of course.**

**Master Chief: Gravemind**

**Ryan: Look closely at Bioshock 1, and you'll catch mention of a pheromone that Andrew Ryan had created and pumped through the ventilation of all of Rapture. While not telepathic like the others, it still let him control every ADAM-affected being from his office, so it's similar.**

**Lastly, I threw in a little reference to the Final Party from Mass Effect 3: Citadel. Find it, and I'll congratulate you in the next chapter.**

**Summary: The investigation continues, as the three teams search Zhu's Hope and ExoGeni for the truth. Unfortunately, the truth doesn't want to be found. It's a good that our Supernovas all have past experience this kind of thing.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype, Bioshock series, Halo series, KotOR, and Fallout series.**

**Disclaimer: The concept of Uniques and Supernovas is mine, but every piece of media seen here is property of those with much fatter bank accounts.**

* * *

Please Keep Off the Grass

_Feros_

_Prothean Skyway_

_Team 1_

_Leader: Cole MacGrath_

"Could you please _try_ not to ram the armatures, Ryan?" Cole shouted from the top of the Mako. Ryan had just driven straight into one of their quadrupedal adversaries in an effort to kill it. The conduit had almost gotten crushed when the walking tank's legs gave out and it fell forward onto their vehicle.

"If you have a better idea," Ryan retorted while shifting into reverse, "I'd love to hear it!"

Cole smirked. "Fine." Summoning a kinetic pulse, he lifted the Mako off the road and magnetically hurled it straight at the armature. Despite the vehicle's relatively light weight, the force Cole had applied was enough to crumple the machine easily. Of course, this didn't necessarily mean that the passengers inside were pleased with being used as a projectile.

"Cole," Ashley began, trying to catch her breath. "I don't care how bad the Commander drives. Do that again, and I'll shoot off your-"

"Ash," Ryan interrupted, uncomfortable just thinking about that image, "Just get back on the gun and feel very grateful that it wasn't the Alex Mercer approach!"

Against her better judgment, Tali asked, "What exactly is the Alex Mercer approach, Commander?"

Cole laughed as he jumped back onto the Mako's roof. "He picks up vehicles and throws them. If there's no explosion, he does it again. Rinse and repeat."

"Oh, Keelah!"

The Splicer King grinned at their antics, having missed this kind of banter. Turning his attention back to the geth blocking the road ahead, he yelled up to Cole, "We're gonna need a lot of heavy artillery to get past all this. See if you can keep that cannon on ice, would you?"

Just like Ryan would use his Winter Blast to passively cool down his shotgun, Cole was now using his own frosty talents to provide unlimited use of the Mako's primary weapon. In short, Ashley was suddenly able to fire 155mm slugs from their tank with no wait time in between.

**BOOM**

**BOOM**

**BOOM**

**BOOM**

"I want a turn, Ashley!" the quarian mechanic whined, looking up from the sensor readouts. Tali was extremely pleased to see so many geth being scrapped, but she wanted the feeling of doing it personally too. Before she could further insist, though, a weak signal came through on the comm. "Never mind, I may have something here. Listen."

"_She's my daughter. I'll wait as long as I have to._"

Ryan twitched slightly at the mention of "daughter" though nobody was in a position to notice. Whoever this was, their family was being threatened, and that was not okay in his book. "You guys might want to hang onto something!" The Splicer King floored it, using a ruined section of bridge as a makeshift ramp, sending the Mako off the ground. Once they were airborne, Ryan engaged the tank's thrusters, propelling them even further up. "Cole!" he yelled. "Thunder drop!"

While this alone wasn't enough height for Cole to catch their remaining enemies in a proper hit, the conduit was able to take himself higher. Back in New Marais, he developed the potential to use vehicles as electric launch pads, able to rocket him well off the ground. That was only with cars, so the Mako would be even more impressive.

Electromagnetically blasting clear off the tank, Cole soared into the air and maintained his altitude with static thrusters. Now floating directly over the geth forces, he dropped like a high-voltage stone, blowing out the circuits of all platforms caught in the resulting shockwave.

The Mako pulled up, and Cole jumped back on just in time to catch another transmission.

"_We've got movement… some kind of vehicle, with… somebody standing on top? Well, it's certainly not geth."_

Cole chuckled. It didn't matter where he went. The reactions people had to his method of transportation _never_ got old.

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Team 2_

_Leader: Alex Mercer_

"Fai Dan," Alex said, walking up as if he owned the place. "I'm Dr. Alex Mercer, and I believe I can help you all with your colony's problems. To do that, though, I'll need a few answers." With each word, the virus carefully gauged Fai Dan's every expression, looking for the subtle tells of deceit. The mention of "problems" had gotten an almost imperceptible rise out of the man. A step in the right direction.

With a calm and polite demeanor unusual for one whose home was under geth attack, Fai Dan nodded. "Of course, Doctor."

And the hunt began in earnest. "First, just tell me a little about this colony."

"Life is hard and often brutal," Fai Dan sighed, "even without our current problems."

"_Pure truth, but with unspoken implications." _Now for a follow up question. "So why don't you leave? If it's so tough to stay, why stay?"

Fai Dan shrugged. "Despite everything, there's something tranquil about this place. Unlike anything I've ever experienced before."

"_Lie of omission with a half-truth."_ Alex pressed further. "So what if we tried evacuating what was left of the colony onto the _Normandy_? At least until the geth were gone?"

Fai Dan shook his head vigorously. "The geth fighters are too dangerous, and I won't be driven off this world. It is… our home."

"_Subject displays attachment to colony that contradicts both present circumstances and known facts. Conclusion one: Subject is in denial as a result of geth assault. Unlikely due to tone of voice and patient behavior. Conclusion two: Subject is suffering from outside influence not unlike Matriarch Benezia. Obviously not identical, but certainly similar. Noticeable symptoms are consistent with those reacting to positive punishment stimuli. Cause is likely the 'Thorian' mentioned by Master Chief. Conclusion two is the more probable hypothesis. Extrapolation: Entire colony is the same, minus Exogeni staff due to their observational role. More information on Thorian necessary to validate theory."_ Alex smiled in mock politeness. "Thank you for your time, Fai Dan." The predator's eyes took on a dangerous gleam. "I assure you, we'll soon have _everything_ under control."

Deep below the surface of Zhu's Hope, a gargantuan mass pulsed in the shadows.

"_**You will kill the machines for me, invader. After that, I will cease to tolerate your presence.**__"_

Alex halted mid-step. Something in the air just shifted dramatically. It was an alien feeling, yet something about it felt unnervingly similar. Seconds passed as the virus looked from person to person. Each individual present looked away immediately – almost apologetically – as he turned his gaze to them. The Thorian had made him, just as expected. They were all maintaining the façade of unassuming colonists, but Alex was no fool. Despite a lack of proper training, each one was an Infantry or Nimbus-class combatant waiting to strike. The question was: Why were they still waiting? He shrugged, not really caring. The Chief would be finished on his end soon, and if Alex was right, all hell would break loose anyway.

* * *

_Feros_

_Tunnels_

_Team 3_

_Leader: Master Chief_

"Shaped charges, Master Chief? What's going on?" Garrus was no stranger to explosives, and this looked insane. Tall, green, and deadly was rigging all of their remaining grenade discs along the ceiling where the geth transmitter had been. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we were about to breach the room above us from the worst possible angle."

"Good thing you don't know any better then, Garrus," Wrex snickered from his place against the wall. "Because that's _exactly_ what we're doing." The battlemaster turned to face the Chief. "How much longer until those things are set?"

"Ten minutes," the Spartan said, not even halting his work.

Garrus' dry tone held no small amount of amusement. "That makes twenty minutes in total. You need that long to blow a hole in the ceiling with grenades that detonate remotely?"

Still not pausing, the Master Chief calmly replied, "No. That only takes half a minute, tops."

Now Garrus was confused. "So why-"

"These tunnels aren't stable," the super soldier continued. "If I'm off by so much as a millimeter, I'll end up bringing twenty tons of Prothean rock down on our heads."

"In other words," Wrex droned, unfazed by this announcement, "Shut your bony jaw, turian."

Garrus didn't say a word, but opened his omni-tool. Apparently, he knew much less about explosives than he thought. Now was a good time to learn more. _"Micro-filaments? Interesting…"_

* * *

_Feros_

_ExoGeni HQ Entrance_

_Team 1_

_Leader: Cole MacGrath_

Ryan was feeling two very strong emotions right now. The first was his burning hatred for corporate slime like Ethan Jeong. The second was a fierce determination to locate one Lizbeth Baynham and reunite the girl with her mother, Juliana, back at that weigh station. And of course, the nonchalance with which Jeong had written Lizbeth off as a casualty had only increased Ryan's urge to toss the sniveling weasel over the bridge and call it a day.

Luckily, Ryan's emotional threshold was incredibly high. Even when pissed, his judgment never clouded, and he never let his feelings take control. Even Darth Traya had complimented him for his immunity to the Dun Möch style employed by Sith. Thus, regardless of anger, the Splicer King moved ahead with business as usual, taking a request from a freelancer named Gavin Hossle to retrieve data involving prototype weapons modifications from ExoGeni Headquarters.

So here they were, standing right outside the entrance, and the hoppers inside had all equipment jammed worse than downtown Los Angeles in gridlock. Ryan stopped and facepalmed when he realized that such metaphors no longer worked when cars drove through the air instead of the streets these days. "Cole, give Tali your dataphone." He was referring to the 22nd century stand-in for Cole's original phone back on Conduit Earth. Just like then, this newer device was held in a sling across his torso, even though the backpack was absent.

Ashley frowned. "Why the hell would you even have something like that in this day and age?"

Cole looked at her as if the answer was obvious. "Because when lightning comes out your ass, omni-tools are unreliable at best. I thought I'd spark-proofed my last one, but apparently I was wrong, so I've set everything up on this dataphone." He tapped a key on the phone's underside, and a holographic grid encircled the whole thing, much like an omni-tool did for an arm. "It performs all the same functions, and I don't have to worry about frying it every time I light up." He handed the little gadget to Tali. "Link all frequencies through mine. I act as a walking signal booster to overcome jammers like those things." Tali nodded and got to work.

Ryan grinned. "While you guys are doing that, Ash and I will clear the room." He pulled out his hooks and marched through the crack in the wall with the Gunnery Chief in tow.

Tali, good enough at mechanical application to multitask, cast a glance in the direction her Captain had just gone, wishing for his safe return. This did not go unnoticed by Cole. Ryan may have been the expert at reading people that wore masks, but the conduit was no slouch either. None of the gangs he'd fought in Empire City or New Marais ever went without concealing their faces with something, be it hoods, trash bags, gas masks, hockey masks, or the things Vermaak 88 wore. He couldn't read all the nuances like Ryan, but at the moment, Tali was pretty much an open book in her "concern" for her Commander. Cole was about to inform her that Ryan was not the kind of man she'd want to get involved with but stopped and considered something. The usual heartbreaker routine had been absent in Ryan's personality as of late. _"In all honesty, ever since we became Spectres, he hasn't been the shameless flirt that stole the hearts of women in each territory he visited. I know it was always a defense mechanism, but still it was ingrained in his personality. Has this one job changed him so much that he doesn't even need it anymore? I'll be damned. The great Splicer King really __**is**__ looking for penance here on Shepard's territory."_ Still, Cole felt bad for Tali. Kessler had made it abundantly clear back in Empire City, long before Cole was even a Supernova: Romance was not part of the job description. Ryan bought into that principle more easily than most due to his origins, but that struck the conduit as weird. _"So what does he plan to do when the job is over and it's time to up and leave? There's no way I'm seeing this and the guy who speaks fluent mask has missed it. He knows, but he's not doing anything about it. Why?_

Cole shook his head, deciding to let the matter be for now. The Splicer King had enough on his plate at the moment. Throwing in the _Normandy_'s personal brand of high school drama was the last thing either Supernova needed.

On the other side of the wall, it was party central. The geth hoppers were good, but not good enough. With numerous gene tonics enhancing his body's physical capabilities, Ryan was a close second to Alex Mercer in the mobility department. Cole and the Master Chief were both superhuman in that category as well, but neither one could top the Splicer King's utterly dizzying agility. Not even teleporting, he jumped from wall to wall, anchoring onto vantage points with his combat hooks and fighting like the supreme spider splicer. The geth never had a chance, and Ashley just stood there in awe.

When her commander jumped down the marine glared. "I thought we were _both_ here to clear the room?" All she got in response was a chuckle. By now, Cole and Tali were making their way inside.

Ryan motioned for them to follow him when Cole began to gasp and clutch his head in pain. "That's not a regular occurrence." He waved his hand at his fellow Spectre, and was promptly hit with a fully charged Electro Bolt. "Thanks. Obviously, the geth spaceship blocks signals better than I can boost them. I tried to force my way through, but the geth amped up the jamming system's power for the express purpose of kicking me in the brain. I'll be fine now. I just needed you to jolt me out of a nasty feedback loop."

Ryan nodded, but as Tali and Ashley went over to examine a geth energy barrier, the man patted Cole on the arm. "That's the kind of thing that works against shoddy Wasteland tech, not stuff used by a race of sentient machines. Exactly like I said back at Zhu's Hope."

Tali turned to look at the Commander. "It's no good. We'll need to cut the power to get by this thing, but that's hard to do when the power is coming from _inside_ the ship."

Cole was about to offer a solution when Ashley turned her rifle on the small hole in the wall below on the left. "Did anyone hear that?"

Her CO nodded. "Sure did. Let's go check it out. Cole, Tali, hold here for a moment." Ryan froze his hand and grabbed his shotgun with the other.

It was only a few seconds after the two marines had left before a single shot rang out, and both quarian and conduit sprung into action. What had occurred was perhaps anticlimactic to Tali and Ashley, but to Ryan and Cole, it was beyond weird.

There stood Elizabeth "Lizbeth" Baynham, apologizing profusely, but nothing she said registered to Ryan. _ "She's got the name of one 'sister' but looks remarkably like the other."_

Cole saw it too, having met both Elizabeth (aka: Anna DeWitt) and Eleanor Lamb. This Lizbeth woman bore an uncanny resemblance to what Eleanor would probably look like a few years from now. Frankly, it freaked the hell out of both Supernovas.

At the mention of the girl's mother, Ryan snapped back to reality. He could reminisce later, right now he was working. "You'll be happy to know that your mother is safe at a weigh station between here and Zhu's Hope, but before any family reunion, what can you tell me about the geth's interest in this place. More specifically, what's a Thorian, and why do the geth care? I can't help without answers."

She had offered him her ID badge to find out from the ExoGeni VI, but Ryan declined. "If it's your badge for clearance then there's nothing the VI can tell me that you can't."

His tone said it all: _"I know you know."_

Lizbeth sighed and began to spill what she knew, how the Thorian was a sentient plant with mind control capabilities, and it was likely older than the Protheans themselves. She explained everything to the last detail, including her involvement in the infection of Zhu's Hope. When she finished, Lizbeth hung her head in shame.

Naturally Tali and Ashley were disgusted with such research, but Ashley's more immediate worry was strapping on her helmet for clean oxygen. Cole was feeling very fortunate to have a naturally powerful resistance to toxins like this. He had needed it back in Empire City when Sasha was using her mind controlling tar against him.

Ryan, unconcerned for the air he was breathing, couldn't help but remember the last time he saw a nearly identical face expose him to an equally awful truth. A time when "level-headed" wasn't even in his vocabulary…

* * *

_Flashback_

_New Solara_

_Station of Initiation_

_Ryan's induction into the Supernovas_

_The Splicer King shook his head confused as all hell. He was unable to accept what the real Jack Ryan had just said to him. "You're telling me that my world is just one among millions out there, and that she," he pointed at Elizabeth, "is the one that dumped a massive gargoyle bird in the water outside my city?!" He guffawed. "How is that even possible? How is any of this possible?" He turned away from the man he was based off of, now facing Eleanor. "I know you're from Rapture too. Why are you okay with this?"_

_Eleanor Lamb smiled gently. "Because I've joined the Supernovas, and now we hope you will-"_

"_NO!" The man screamed, eyes taking on a reddish glow. "I don't have time for this! If that bird is just sitting there, I need to get back and keep the splicers and Big Sisters from salvaging it! Why won't you send me home?!" He rounded on Elizabeth. "You sent the bird there, right? Send me back the same way! Please!" He was frantic now. "Undo whatever you did, and let me get on with my life!"_

_Elizabeth looked down, totally at a loss. She really didn't know how to explain that there was a difference between what she had done then and what he was asking now. All the reality-warping lady could do was let him yell at her._

_Eleanor tried once again to intervene. "I don't think you understand. First of all, you only just discovered that bird an hour before getting brought here, but the Songbird has been at the bottom of Rapture since a time when Sander Cohen was still alive." This was enough to get the Splicer King's attention, and now she appealed to his human side. "Second of all, you can't go back to Rapture just like that. We've brought you here for something bigger than mindless slaughter day in and day out. Isn't exploring countless realities a preferable life to fighting splicers in the wreckage of an underwater hell?"_

_She may have gotten through to the Rapture Raptor, but before he said anything his Unique counterpart sighed. "We'll give you a while to think about it, but not here." He nodded to Samus Aran and Zero. "These two will escort you to a separate location in Solara. You can sit there and come to terms with everything we've told you about Halla, the Supernovas, and the Uniques."_

_As Samus put a hand on the Splicer King's shoulder, Eleanor's eyes widened. To all of them, the concept of armed escorts was a mere concern for security. To the man in front of her, it was nothing short of declaring war. "Samus, don't!" But it was too late._

_The entire ethereal room was thrown into disarray as seven geyser traps went off simultaneously. Eyes now a furious red, just like the Big Daddies in his home, the Rapture Raptor took all of the water created by his plasmids and directed it at the two Supernovas meant to escort him. Samus was knocked back, but Zero remained on his feet. The armored huntress rolled into morph ball form, intending to rush the Raptor while Zero kept him occupied. With his telekinesis, the Splicer King lifted the morph ball off the ground and launched Samus directly into her Reploid ally's midsection. This sent them both flying backward into a pre-prepared fiery cyclone trap. While they were stunned, Raptor searched for a way out._

_Neither Eleanor nor Elizabeth could stand watching him like this. Unable to see behind the doors of Ryan's choices, Elizabeth failed to provide any words of wisdom. As Unique Jack Ryan materialized a wrench and a blue flame, preparing for the worst, Eleanor made one final plea. "Jack! Please don't do this!"_

_That was the last straw. Looking at a woman that he would call "sister" in the future, the Raptor's eyes went from anger-red to warning-yellow. "Your precious Unique has the name Jack. My name… is Ryan!" Unafraid of what would happen, Jack "Rapture" Ryan jumped into the writhing vortex that Zero and Samus had come from._

_When he hit solid ground – an alien concept in and of itself – Ryan was standing outside of Vault City, and nobody looked happy to see him. Noticing the guns aimed at him, he shrugged. "Don't pull that trigger unless you feel suicidal. I've had a __**really**__ bad day."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

Looking back now, Ryan understood that they were only trying to protect him. But as a man who had yet to learn anything outside of violence, he acted on instinct, only sparing what he saw as a threat because of Eleanor's presence. He knew all she had been put through, and even back then, as the Raptor, he wouldn't dare lay a hand on her.

Returning to their current concern, Ryan knew that the same would undoubtedly apply to Lizbeth, both for the name and the appearance. Regardless of what the girl had done for ExoGeni, he wouldn't even raise his voice. He couldn't because, despite his aforementioned emotional control, he would do absolutely anything for his family. Placing a comforting hand on Lizbeth's shoulder, Ryan said, "We'll deal with the Thorian and make up for what ExoGeni has done, but first, the geth have to go."

Lizbeth nodded, but then she paled and ran like a woman possessed. Ryan turned to see that a krogan field commander had apparently heard them talking. "Does she know how to get that stupid machine upstairs to work?!" the hulking Nova-class soldier demanded.

Ryan stepped in the field commander's path. "You'd need an ID badge with the proper clearance." The Son of Rapture took on a threatening stance. "Unfortunately, it's got her name and picture rather than yours, so you'll just have to get one of your own.

The field commander charged straight at them. "I really need to kill something!" he bellowed.

Cole grinned. "He's all yours, Ryan."

The Splicer King calmly walked forward, ignoring Tali and Ashley's hysterical screaming. The krogan was on him, and that's when Ryan went into motion, giving mental thought to each action. Time seemed to slow as he brutalized his opponent.

"_Hook strike across eye ridge to blind target."_ His right combat hook sliced apart the field commander's capacity for sight. _"Teleport away from rising arms and shotgun."_ Shattering from existence, Ryan had evaded the krogan's crushing blows. _"Rematerialize in same position. Use both hooks to sever primary nervous system at the throat."_ The Splicer King reappeared in the exact same spot before sinking his hooks into his adversary's throat. _"Electro bolt to cancel blood rage."_ A simple lightning strike from his left hand stopped the krogan's evolutionary second wind before it even began. _"Quad kick."_ He nutted the field commander, sending the big guy to his knees. _"Sink hooks into each side of head plate, and twist. Neck has been snapped. Krogan is dead."_

Ramming his right hook into the right side of the plate and the left hook into the other, Ryan spun around, forcing the krogan's head to turn at an impossible angle, producing a sickening cracking sound. Yanking out his hooks and wiping them off, the Splicer King looked at Cole. "Next time, why don't you just blow it up with a lightning rocket?"

"Like you would have let me," Cole chuckled. He had seen the look in Ryan's eyes, and he knew that the guy was in full "Brother" mode. Nobody called it "Big Brother" even though it broke the naming pattern. All knew the negative connotation associated with such a title, so it was either "Brother" or "Foster Brother" to those Ryan would tolerate saying it.

"Well," Tali said. "As impressive as that was, shouldn't hurry up and find something to do about that geth dropship? We can't communicate with the rest of the crew while it's here, and if you teleport back, that still leaves the geth in a fortified position." While this was a logical reason for wanting to move on, it had little to do with her motives. Tali didn't want to admit it, but she was more than a little uneasy with the looks Ryan had been giving Lizbeth. It was like he'd known her for years, and it irked the quarian.

Ryan smirked inwardly at his mechanic's blatant jealousy. He'd address that later, but for now he played ignorant, knowing it was better for everyone. "Agreed. Once we get rid of that thing, we can alert Teams 2 and 3 to the danger they're in. The Thorian won't like us snooping around, and we're likely to be regarded as a threat. Cole, you're up. Bring down that ship. We'll case the area, finish off the geth inside and gather any useful intel we see along the way."

Cole nodded and clambered back up the way they had come. Once he was back at the geth barrier, he electrified both hands. Then he did something that he knew was possible for the strongest of biotics, but only if they were crazy enough to try. The conduit punched through the barrier with his fingers, gripped the barrier from within, and tore open a hole that he could squeeze through before letting go. The barrier snapped back shut as if he'd never touched it (**A/N: Think of Aria's awesome scene in the main reactor trap from the ME3: Omega DLC**).

Vaulting up the staircase, Cole fried the few geth in his way and entered a room with one of the dropship's landing claws. It seemed to be anchored through an open shuttle bay. "That could work," Cole muttered. "Apply a little ice, and use the door controls to…" the conduit's plan died the moment he turned to look at the sparking remains of the control console. "What was I thinking?" he groaned. "They're called artificial _intelligence_ for a reason. No way they'd be dumb enough to leave their ship vulnerable to something like this." Cole rolled his head to the left and then the right, popping a few joints and loosening the tension. "Fine. We do this the hard way, assholes."

The self-taught traceur leapt from the remains of a stairwell onto the geth dropship itself, which had _very_ few handholds. Of course, Cole was just now realizing that it probably had to do with the fact that it was a geth _frigate_ shaped like a dropship. If he took this out, it was game over for the geth on Feros. Coming to a stand on the top of the landing claw's metallic arm, Cole wreathed himself in blue lightning.

"Attention all passengers," Cole mocked. "We seem to be experiencing inclement weather, and there is no hope of survival. Make your peace with pissing off humanity in the five seconds you have left."

With that, he brought the wrath of the sky down on the frigate, pounding it repeatedly with ribbons of lightning from high above. The geth ship first began to shudder. Then it started smoking, and soon its bow erupted in flame as the whole thing began to lose all functionality. Not letting up, Cole grinned as he kept attacking and shouted, "Yippee ki yay, mother- woah!"

That was the moment the claw he'd been standing on gave out. Cole engaged his static thrusters immediately and watched as the locust-shaped frigate plummeted through the ocean of clouds to the surface far below. Descending towards the waiting Mako, Cole stuck the landing. Three seconds later, he blacked out from pure exhaustion. He never hit the ground though, as Ashley Williams had jumped out of the tank the moment he landed. "You did good, Cole," she whispered. "We've got it from here."

Ryan opened a comm. line with Alex and the Chief. "Teams 2 and 3, this is Team 1. The geth are history but you need to GTFO. The Thorian is-" He was interrupted by Alex.

"_The Thorian is pissed off. That's what it is!"_ The predator's voice held traces of confusion, agony, guilt, and fear. It took something beyond description to evoke such feelings from Alex Mercer. This was very, very bad._ Get your N7 ass back here pronto!"_

Ryan didn't hesitate for a moment. "I'll be there ASAP. I need to reunite a family first." He turned to Ashley. "I can't take all four of you, and I don't have time to drive. Keep watch over Cole, and if he tries to come help, I order you to shoot him in the leg and stuff his ass back in the Mako." Now facing Tali, he said, "I know you hate this, but I need backup that already has their air filtration unit running." He grabbed her by the arm before doing the same to Lizbeth. All three shattered as he made the teleport back to the weigh station where Juliana was waiting for her daughter.

Ashley sat still, unable to do anything but worry. As Ryan had teleported away, she caught one last message from his comm. It had been Alex yelling at the top of his lungs.

"_Fine, just hurry the fuck up, and bring Cole! Garrus! Wrex! I could use your help here! What do you mean the Master Chief stayed behind? Dammit!"_

Ashley deduced that Alex, a one-man army, was so desperate, he was asking for help to win. Second, the Master Chief was MIA somewhere in the colony. "Not good," she sighed.

* * *

_Feros_

_Tunnels_

_Twenty-Five Minutes ago_

_Team 3_

_Leader: Master Chief_

CRASH

The IED that the Chief had set up made minimal noise as it brought down a large portion of the ceiling. No noise came from the other side, so after thirty seconds of waiting, the Spartan crouched down and jumped straight up through the hole.

It was incredibly dark in the breached room, but Spartan-IIs practically had night vision after their augmentation procedures, and the Chief was no exception. Gun drawn, he activated his helmet's VISR system for improved situational assessment and slowly scanned the room for any hostiles. "Vegetation, but not a lot else," he muttered. As he reached down to lift Garrus and then Wrex through the hole, the Master Chief couldn't shake the eerie déjà vu vibe that ran down his spine.

The three searched, but after spending several minutes finding nothing but plant material and a vine-choked staircase, the Spartan decided they needed a little insight before proceeding any further. "Cortana, give me something."

Isolating a small piece of the material growing in the room, Cortana brought up an analysis readout on the side of the HUD. "They appear to be some kind of decentralized feelers. They would act much like a ship's sensor array, but… oh hell!" The readout changed to an enhanced image of one of the pieces of dust in the air. "Chief! This isn't dust! It's a spore. They're all spores. If one inhales enough of them, they'd become susceptible to whatever is making them. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the source is-"

The Chief had noticed movement, and dove to the right with microseconds to spare as a warp field shot by. Foregoing stealth now that they'd been made, the Spartan turned on his helmet's flashlights. Standing before the Master Chief and his alien allies was a small army of greenish-gray monstrosities and a green asari in commando leathers. Chief finished Cortana's sentence for her. "The Thorian."

The Spartan's comm. burst to life as Alex began to shout. _"Team 3, this is Alex! I said shake the tree, not kick the hornets' nest! The colonists have gone mental, just like I thought, but these creeper things are pouring out of the woodwork! I took an acid belch from one of them, and it melted my shoulder away. I don't want to know what they can do to our ship. Something's keeping Ryan and Cole out of contact, and you're too far away to help me in time. I'll apologize now for what I'm about to do, and I'll give it to you in writing if you need it, but I have to break my biggest rule. Just get back here __**now**__!"_

Chief didn't have time to answer before the green asari began to speak with a voice that clearly wasn't hers.

"Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. Thousands of feelers deem you another cold one, but it is simply the union of meat and metal. But metal does not obey the Old Growth, and the useless have no place here!"

"Chief…" Cortana began, getting very worried. She knew this tone of voice far too well. It was like staring at something infected by Gravemind 2.0.

"I know," the Spartan said quietly. He ordered both Wrex and Garrus back down the hole and told them to book it back to Zhu's Hope. When they refused to leave him behind, he grabbed the turian with his left hand and the krogan with his right and dropped them down through the improvised entrance. "Now!" the several-hundred-pound soldier yelled. They didn't have much choice in the matter.

It was mostly to prevent the pair from seeing what was to come. This… thing had just touched one of the few subjects that pissed the Master Chief off. It called him a _machine_. Exchanging his rifle for his shotgun, the hyper-lethal vector stood his ground against the horde of green. "Say 'I am a monument to all your sins,'" He growled, prepping a carnage blast. "I dare you."

The asari charged forward, the creepers right behind her, but against the Master Chief, it was far from an even fight. When he was the only green thing left standing, the Spartan took a deep breath. He knew that the frightening similarities this Thorian bore to the Flood were unsettling Cortana. But the options were clear:

If they fall back, the _Normandy_ and her crew would be completely overrun, and Team 1 would be left stranded at ExoGeni. If he pushed forward, Cortana would slowly get more and more unstable. Still, he trusted her. "Are you okay?" he asked. She had likely reached this conclusion well before him, so he had to know she'd hold together.

Cortana would have cried if she could. "I will be once we've killed this _damn_ _weed_. I didn't have you when I faced the Gravemind. I have you now. Just promise me it will be alright."

"Of course it will be alright," the Spartan growled. "You said it yourself: you have me."

"Thank you, John." Having her Spartan this time around really made all the difference in the world.

With that, they ventured into the dark bowels of Thorian overgrowth. Digging until they hit daylight, as usual.

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Eight minutes ago_

_Team 2_

_Leader: Alex Mercer_

After shutting the comm. link with Master Chief, Alex leapt into action. Kaidan and Liara were doing their best, but it was only a matter of time before this kind of close-quarters action got them killed.

The worst part about facing down a hive mind or anything similar was that the units it controlled no longer had an individual threat ranking. It ceased to be about Infantry-class and Nova-class enemies. Now they operated under the single consciousness of a creature that gave them perfect coordination. Working in flawless synchronization, the overall threat was easily that of a veteran Supernova. All eyes could see what one pair couldn't. There were no blind spots, no moments of hesitation, no gaps in defense, nothing. The worst part? Lethal force on the mind-controlled colonists was unacceptable, even to the viral sociopath. If they were infected like in New York, maybe, but these guys were living pseudo-lives unless the Thorian needed something. Alex wanted the king, not the thralls, and mitigating collateral damage was crippling his usefulness in combat.

It was infuriatingly dangerous, and if he didn't break his most important vow, they were probably all going to die, himself included. Grabbing a creeper by the neck he shortened his claws until they more closely resembled syringes. Then he stabbed the freak in the spine, and after infecting its nervous system with Blacklight, Alex connected his own viral hive mind to the decentralized consciousness of the Thorian.

That brought combat to an immediate halt, and just in time. His two biotic friends – and after this long working together, they _were_ the sociopath's friends – had lost barriers and been overcome by creepers and colonists. The following conversation happened in the span of a second.

"_**Trespasser! You are not soft meat. Your body does not decompose. I care not what you are, only that you leave me in peace!"**_

"_**Fat chance of that, Thorian. I'm not the peaceful type, but I'll make you a deal."**_

"_**I listened to Saren, and it only brought death to flesh meant to tend my next cycle. No more will I listen to those who scurry."**_

This was it. Alex had to pull out all the stops and do the one thing he promised Dana he'd never even consider. There was a cozy spot in Hell waiting for him if this backfired.

"_**I don't scurry. I infect. I am Blacklight Virus Strain DX 1118 C, a chimeric, multi-vector bioweapon that can and will condemn all life on this world to ruin. Codename: Zeus**_**.**_**"**_

Alex flashed several images of the chaos from Hope, Idaho and New York City across their mental link just to prove he wasn't joking.

"_**You see that? That's what I'll do to your pretty little home if you don't let my allies retreat safely to our ship. Test me, and by this time tomorrow, Feros will be nothing but a sea of black and red biomass. MY biomass."**_

"_**And then what, virus? You would face the retaliation of the very flesh you foolishly tried to protect."**_

"_**Yeah, humanity sucks like that. But are you willing to bet everything you are on that little detail?"**_

"…_**The invaders nearby may go free, virus. You may not. Neither shall the other meddlers that killed the cold ones, nor the hybrid of machine and flesh. It is inevitable that you all die, regardless, thus your gain is null."**_

The creepers and colonists stood back, giving Kaidan and Liara a clear path back to the _Normandy_. When they stopped their movement behind Alex, he cut the link, consumed the infected creeper, and faced them. "Get the hell back to the ship! Put her on emergency lockdown and shoot anything in the head that tries to force its way inside."

Not a moment later, chaos returned as the Thorian's forces tried to swarm them. Not wasting time, Alex forced both biotics toward the stairs that led down to their stealth frigate. The second they passed through, he shifted to tendrils and sank a grid of iron-hard biomass into the walls on either side. There was no way anything was getting out of the main colony to the _Normandy_ without literally going through Alex Mercer.

Looking over his shoulder at the hesitant biotics, still standing at the top of the stairs, he screamed at them to go. Liara was conflicted. "But… Alex!"

"It'll take more than this to kill me, Blue. You ought to know that by now! Kaidan, get her out of here."

The lieutenant practically dragged Liara away from the kill zone, but not without taking a few potshots through Alex's tendril barricade.

The Thorian had one last comment to make before severing connection with a mind that rivaled its own in complexity.

"_**Why save those who could never possibly understand one such as you. They are beneath you, and in time, they will hate you."**_

Alex chuckled, both out loud and in his head.

"_**You know, I used to agree with that statement. My own sister hated me for a while. But guess what? She came to terms with it. She said, 'No matter what, you're still my brother.' If I have to tear down the galaxy to protect those who accept me, you can bet your photosynthetic ass I will."**_

No more words were spoken. Alex simply shifted to his armored form and didn't move an inch. The colonists couldn't harm him with their bullets. The creepers' acid spit might have been a problem if they didn't have to get so close to use it. Each time they moved up to vomit on the predator, they were met with a boot to the face.

His comm. buzzed to life as somebody finally returned his calls. It was Ryan trying to warn him about the Thorian, but Alex interrupted. "The Thorian is pissed off. That's what it is!"

The virus paused to kick another creeper in the face. "Get your N7 ass back here pronto!"

Ryan told him something about a reunion, but the virus was too busy literally biting the bullet to hear the details. "Fine, just hurry the fuck up, and bring Cole!" The conduit's arc restraint ability would get the colonists out of the way so Alex could go on the offensive.

Suddenly, the number of creepers began to thin, and the focus of enemy attention shifted the other way. His confusion lifted as a familiar turian agent and krogan battlemaster tore through the ranks of enemies, carefully avoiding colonists. "Garrus! Wrex! I could use your help here!" He nodded at his little predicament. One thing he never learnt how to do was shapeshift an extra pair of arms, and that would have been _really_ handy right now.

Wrex grunted. "Well don't expect any more than us." He raised a barrier and prepared to fight. You're big green giant forced us to leave without him."

Alex's undead blood froze. "What do you mean the Master Chief stayed behind?" How could he even consider taking on something that obviously reeked of Gravemind? At the top of his lungs, the virus screamed to the sky.

"Dammit!"

The predator retracted his tendrils without letting go of the wall, bringing it all crashing down. That blocked off any passage to the _Normandy_.

"_When I find that damn plant, I'm going to have a nice, sentient vegetarian meal called Thorian salad."_ The virus shifted to his blade. "Come get some!"

* * *

**And that's all for now. It's a cliffhanger of sorts, and it's very evil of me. I hope you guys actually enjoyed this chapter, because writing it felt awesome. There was action, but also a sense of helplessness coming from the protagonists. They're tough, but they ain't invincible. Right now each one is wondering what the hell to do. See you next time, **

**That scene with Ryan's initiation was something I wanted to get just right. I may do the initiations of the other three if the opportunity arises, but until then:**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	27. Reap What You Sow

**Before you scroll down, please read the two very important notes. I must have rewritten this chapter at least three times for you guys, so really hope you like it. No, that's not one of the notes!**

**First, it will seem at multiple points that certain characters are going to die. I promise you, nobody you actually care about will die in this chapter.**

**Second, there is a mental conversation, like last time but to make it easy, it goes like this:**

"**Alex's mental speech"**

"_**Thorian's mental speech"**_

**Summary: With Cole down for the count, that means Ryan is in charge. Will the colonists live or die? Where is the Master Chief? Most importantly, how do they plan to get answers from the Thorian when they're so busy killing it?**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3, Prototype series, Halo series, inFAMOUS series, Bioshock series, KotOR and HEAVY Fallout 3/NV spoilers, and a side reference to Fate/Stay Night.**

**Disclaimer: I hear nothing, I see nothing, I own nothing!**

* * *

Reap What You Sow

_Feros_

_Weigh Station_

_Team 1a_

_Acting Leader: Jack "Rapture" Ryan_

"Everybody shut up!" Jeong demanded. "Let me think." This was a mess. The ExoGeni database had said weird shit about Ryan and MacGrath, but he'd never expected _lightning_ to drop down on that geth ship. Those Spectres should have died at HQ, not win and cause countless security leaks.

Juliana was tired of Jeong and his lack of empathy. He couldn't just have all the colonists murdered. "You won't get away with this."

Jeong rolled his eyes. "Get her out of here!" he ordered the nearby security guards. He was still in charge, and he could make this all go away. Somehow…

Lizbeth, hiding behind a corner with Tali, raged with anger at the sight of her mother about to be carted off. "Get away from her you son of a bitch!"

Seeing her daughter alive and well, Juliana wrenched free of the guards. "Lizbeth!" she gasped, wrapping her child in a loving embrace. The guns in their faces soon brought harsh reality back down.

"Dammit!" Jeong whined. He knew there was only one way she could have gotten back. "Come out where I can see you, all of you!"

When the lone quarian from before stepped out from behind the wall and nonchalantly walked towards Gavin Hossle, it confused the hell out of Jeong. His confusion disappeared very quickly when a pissed off Ryan, who had been invisible this whole time, lifted him into the air by the throat.

"If you _ever_ touch either one of them again," Ryan snarled, "I will cook your eyes inside their sockets! Are we clear?" Not waiting for a response, he unceremoniously dumped the sniveling worm back on the floor. "My associate, Cole MacGrath, risked his life to bring the geth down, and for some reason that's causing you grief? What the hell, Jeong?"

"It's not that simple," Jeong began, gasping for air. "Communications are back up, and ExoGeni wants this place purged!"

As Tali handed the data over to Hossle, she only half listened to the ongoing argument. The way that Commander Ryan had protected Lizbeth had struck a nerve with her, and she knew why. Every time Tali had needed protection, Ryan never got emotional. In the Wards, he'd been making jokes. On Therum, he killed the geth armature without a word, but then things went back to normal. On Noveria, he even laughed about her fear of spiders while keeping her safe from them. But Lizbeth? Anger seemed to be his natural response to anything threatening her, from krogan, to varren, to Jeong and his goons.

Tali knew the facts that were bothering her, but what really scared her was the larger implication: Anyone with a look at her thoughts would say she was… jealous. _"Oh, Keelah!"_

The sudden change in Ryan's voice as he reentered the argument snapped the quarian from her thoughts. "Jeong, I don't think you're seeing the big picture here."

Displaying his vast intelligence, Jeong responded with a confused "Huh?"

Ryan sighed and began to pace back and forth. Tali recognized this from the Citadel. He did this before long explanations that had the possibility for massive turnout. "The Thorian is my only lead on Saren and his geth. But when I have what I want, the massive space salad is going to die, end of story." The Splicer King held up one hand wreathed in fire for added effect. "But the Thorian won't be the only means of profit on this colony, and once it's gone, there are even greater dividends to be made."

The words "profit" and "dividends" had caught Jeong's attention. "I'm listening, Commander."

Ryan smirked. "What was the last colony to be attacked by the geth?"

Jeong scratched his neck. "Eden Prime?" he answered hesitantly.

"Correct. Our shining wonder-colony on the edge of the Terminus was utterly ravaged by the synthetic horde over the span of a few hours. Compare that to Feros: You've been under geth siege for several days instead of mere hours. The colonists fought back effectively, and at Zhu's Hope, they have rallied without falling, even prior to the _Normandy_'s arrival. Think about it, Jeong. The rugged world of Feros is an icon that humanity can rally behind. The geth couldn't take this world, and they won't take any more." Ryan folded his arms and gave Jeong a challenging look. "Here are your options: Sell that concept I just gave you to the boys at ExoGeni. The colony lives, and you get very rich. The other option is me picking you up again and tossing you over the bridge. What's it gonna be?"

They came to an agreement pretty quickly after his speech, but that still left the colonists. Ryan sighed. "You're leaving the fate of Zhu's Hope up to me? Fantastic."

Tali couldn't even imagine the stress Ryan was going through. Saving them all would be almost impossible, but killing them wouldn't be easy on anyone's conscience. "I'm with you, Commander, whatever you decide." She could be annoyed about Lizbeth later. Right now her captain needed support.

The Splicer King appreciated the thought, but she truly didn't know him. It would be almost impossible to save these colonists the way he'd spared the lives of those guards at Synthetic Insights. He had knocked them down, sure, but Cole made sure they had _stayed_ down with an arc restraint. No Cole, no arc restraint. No arc restraint, no bloodless victory. On almost any job, Ryan's knee-jerk reaction was to beat his problems to death. How could he possibly justify that right now?

"_Ryan? It's Cole, come in."_

Ryan didn't let it show, but he was beyond ecstatic to hear the conduit's voice. "Ryan here. The colonists have gone mad. The Thorian is forcing them to fight. There's no other choice-"

"_They're slaves to the Thorian, Ryan."_ Cole interrupted him to say this like it was some grand epiphany.

"What's your point, Cole?"

"_**They're slaves**__. __**You're a man**__. I'll let you fill in the blanks."_

Ryan tensed up at the use of such a personal blow. However accurate the context, nobody had ever dared to use those words against him. It was tantamount to asking for a slow death. Regardless, Cole had trapped him with that logic. "This had damn well better be a private line, or I swear-"

"_Chill, Ryan, it's private. Ash stepped out for a perimeter sweep."_

"You're not here, Cole. You can't expect me to actually do this your way."

"_This was the deal, wasn't it? If I let you do the heavy lifting, you would let me make the calls. Well, my call is that nobody dies except the Thorian."_

"And how the hell am I supposed pull it off? I'm a killer, not a soldier. I told you, I don't know anything but death anymore." Ryan was done with this game. "If you don't have more than nice sentiments to offer, then I'm doing it my way."

"_Just like I told you on Noveria, strike without the intent to kill. Anyone who's ever been on the wrong end of a taser knows that electricity can provide nonlethal takedowns. You've got plenty of little tricks for electrical melee. Put them to use. It's not that hard, Ryan. I know you've been on the black ops shit for a while, but now it's time to ask yourself what your humanity is really worth. Sometimes you gotta to be willing to take the hit."_

"What does 'take the hit' even mean?" Ryan asked, but Cole had already disconnected the comm. The Splicer King gripped his head in frustration.

"Ryan?" Tali's hesitant voice broke him from his thoughts. He turned to face her. "I think we can save the colonists with this." She held out a canister and handed it to Ryan. "Lizbeth and Juliana created a nerve gas to work on those under Thorian control. It should render them unconscious." The quarian looked at the floor. "Unfortunately, we've only got six grenades. The Master Chief took most of them when we split into teams.

The Splicer King grinned. This canister was something he could work with. "Let me worry about the grenade count, Tali. You just turned a hopeless scenario into a very simple one." Without another word, he grabbed his mechanic and teleported them both to the besieged colony.

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

Alex was utterly thrilled to hear the shattering sound of Ryan's teleport plasmid. They had lost all ability to fight offensively once the Thorian started positioning the colonists in front of the creepers. It allowed the freaks to get right in the squad's faces and spray them with acid. Because nobody wanted to kill the colonists, there was nothing to be done. Hopefully Ryan and Cole had a plan now that they were here.

"It's about fucking time you guys showed-" The virus stopped talking when he turned around and didn't see Cole. "Where's Cole? You may not have noticed, but is the one of those things that we suck at and he doesn't.

Ryan smirked and tossed out one of the six gas grenades he had on hand. The three colonists caught in the cloud were unconscious before they hit the floor. "He's taking a break after using up enough juice to power Manhattan. I've got this."

Alex scoffed as he ducked a mob of creepers, cleaving them all apart with a rising slash. "You damn well better. If I got shot to shit for nothing, then I'm taking it out of your hide."

The Splicer King rolled his eyes and threw all five remaining grenades into the air. Levitating them with telekinesis, he launched out two that would blanket the greatest number of colonists at once. The blasts knocked another five out cold, leaving eight more with three grenades left. Ryan was also happy to discover that the gas reduced creepers to green paste.

That was the good news. The bad news was that the Thorian had figured out the new threat to his slaves and scattered them widely. No two colonists were anywhere near each other, and this whole time, the shooting had never stopped. Ryan's shields were falling, and the creepers were closing in again.

"Dammit!" Ryan yelled, cutting his losses and firing a gas grenade at the three most easily targeted colonists. Now there were five hostiles left to subdue and an army of creepers making things very difficult. They had to thin the ranks before proceeding. He turned to Alex, and nodded in the direction of their turian sniper.

Alex got the message, and without warning, grabbed Garrus by the back of his armor, leapt to the roof of the freighter, and put him down. "You can do some real damage from up here," the virus explained. "Wrex will keep them from trying to climb up."

Jumping back down, Alex hit the ground hard, sending up a dozen groundspikes with pinpoint accuracy to kill just as many creepers. Keeping his arms in human form, the predator struck out with a palm slam, a strong clap of air that could knock away anything in front of him. He caught one of the colonists, Arcelia to be precise, and a few creepers in the air wave. She'd live, but her ribcage had probably seen better days.

Tali had not been idle all this time. Overclocking just about every feature in her omni-tool, the quarian girl sabotaged all the colonists' weapons by remotely triggering an endless cooldown cycle. Without weapons, the job got a lot easier.

Ryan was making great progress. Snapping his fingers again and again, the Splicer King was lighting countless Thorian creepers on fire. When they stopped attacking him in such large numbers Ryan began to smirk, but his victory was premature. He suddenly realized that they had just targeted somebody else: Tali! Suddenly, he knew what Cole meant by "take the hit."

Teleporting directly to her overrun position, the Splicer Spectre threw his quarian mechanic out of the creepers' reach. Before Ryan himself could dodge, the creepers drenched him in several gallons of acidic vomit. Tali looked on in horror as they only continued to gather around his position, spitting and swatting at her Pilgrimage Captain. "Keelah! Ryan!"

**FWOOSH**

The giant mob of creepers burst into flame as the Splicer King's body turned into a veritable firestorm. His clothes were a mess. While anything Ryan wore was always immune to his plasmids and tonics, the creeper acid had reduced his jacket and shirt to threads. The skin wasn't all that pleasant to look at either. The pain was enough to knock most Nova-class humans into the next life, but Ryan just stood there. Casting aside the corroded shotgun and pistols that had also been exposed to creeper acid, the Splicer King grabbed the tattered remains of his armored jacket and ripped it off. The shirt soon followed. Once the burnt clothes were off, he could breathe air that didn't smell like rot. Now, mentally switching from fiery melee tonics to electrical ones, Ryan got to work.

Tali was awestruck. Remarkably, the acid burns didn't even slow her shirtless captain down as he traversed the length of the freighter in seconds. Not only that, she swore that his wounds were already closing. She watched as he leapt into the air and came down hard on a pair of creepers protecting a colonist. They were dealt an electric shock on impact, but their deaths came when Ryan smashed their heads together, causing more sparks in the process. As he did this, the wounds on his back began to steam up, indicating extremely rapid metabolic healing. The colonist was struck twice in the gut by Ryan's fists, each blow releasing more shocks to the victim and leaving her out cold. The Commander teleported off to another colonist, leaving Tali frantic to keep him in her sights.

She relocated him at the water control system, blasting two colonists with a massive stream of electricity. Tali thought only Cole was able to do that, but apparently she'd been wrong. The colonists lost all motor control after a few seconds, and dropped to the ground in spasms, alive but incapacitated. His back and right side had completely healed now, leaving only the wounds on his face and chest.

By now, Garrus and Wrex felt a little left out. The turian, having spent all this time picking off creepers at random, shifted gears and targeted the monsters close to one of the four remaining colonists. The man in question rounded on Garrus' position, but by then his creeper bodyguards were all headless, and he was staring up at a very large krogan. "Remember me, Ian?" Wrex chuckled before head butting the crazy man.

"How could anyone _forget_ you, Wrex?" Garrus drawled, returning to his marksmanship. The battlemaster just chuckled.

The number went from three to two when Alex scythed through ten creepers just to reach a colonist and give him a "gentle" push. The guy would undoubtedly be in a world of hurt for the next month, but internal bleeding was a step up from dead.

A whirlwind of energy, the Splicer King engaged his omni-drill and tore apart at least seven creepers. Now his wounds were finally healed, and while Tali found his rapid regeneration strange, she was far too appreciative of his physique to really care. _"Is it getting hot inside this suit or is it just… Yikes! Where did that line of thought come from?"_

Focusing on the last of the colonists, Ryan teleported once again, rematerializing directly behind one of them and rendering her unconscious with a chokehold. The last one was unspectacularly karate chopped in the back of the neck, knocking him out. Ryan made sure to catch the poor fool before he hit the concrete, preventing a cracked skull.

Something didn't feel right. There was one missing, but who… Fai Dan. The man stepped around the corner just as Alex was making for the freighter controls. Unafraid of a pistol, Alex simply continued to raise the section of Zhu's Hope hiding their objective.

Ryan moved to intercept Fai Dan all the same, but it soon became clear that the unofficial colonist leader was putting up remarkable resistance. "It wants me… to stop you… but I won't."

The Splicer King's eyes widened as Fai Dan shifted his aim from Alex to his own forehead. He tried to rip the gun from Fai Dan's hands with telekinesis, but failed. The man's grip was remarkably powerful. "I WON'T!"

**ZAP**

Instead of a gunshot, the sound of lightning – true lightning, not Ryan's electro bolt – echoed through the colony. Cole MacGrath smirked from the other end of the freighter, having knocked Fai Dan out cold with a timely precision shock. "Miss me?" he wheezed, barely able to stand. Ashley was hovering nearby should he actually fall. "If it's all the same to you, I'm gonna take a rain check on the creepy underground lair." A chorus of support rang from everyone still conscious. Hobbling over to Ryan, the conduit grinned. "Not a bad job for an operator." He held out a hand, this time devoid of lightning for there was none left to display. "Give me a lift to the med bay. There's something in there you'll need before going down that particular rabbit hole."

Ryan grasped Cole's trembling hand, but before he could launch a teleport, Ashley placed her palm over their linked arms. "I'm coming too." When her Commander raised an eyebrow, she gestured to her leg. Medi-gel was coating a giant bite mark. "Varren," she explained.

Accepting this answer, Ryan shattered all three of them out of existence, aiming to get these two some medical help, and himself a new shirt.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Med Bay_

_Docked at Zhu's Hope_

Rematerializing in Dr. Chakwas' workspace most certainly wasn't the brightest idea, but she dropped all concerns of "using the bloody door" once she saw the exhausted conduit and bitten marine.

Cole, however, refused to lie down until the good doctor would give him what he asked for. Finally, Chakwas relented and brought a crate out of the corner of her med bay. Leaving the men "with their toys" as she put it, she began tending to Ashley's bite wound. It wasn't really that convenient. Dr. Chakwas already knew most of the truth. Any Supernova whose job lasted longer than a day would come to realize that hiding one's real identity from an experienced doctor was nigh-impossible. They let her in on the secret soon after departing for Therum. Between the things they had shown her and her doctor-patient confidentiality, she was both on their side and sworn to silence.

Cole entered the passphrase, _war never changes_, into the keypad on the box before opening it and showing the contents to Ryan. The Splicer King looked inside with shock and confusion.

He turned to make sure Ashley wasn't paying attention, before sending a private message to Cole's dataphone. _"Is this my old uniform?"_

Cole grinned and sent a response. _"Not quite. This one has a few… modifications."_

Ryan shook his head. _"Riot gear isn't much good against mass accelerator weaponry."_

The grin remained. _"Like I said, we gave this one some modifications. In the East, you were a Knight. In the West, you were a Ranger. Both times, you were more than a war criminal lurking in the shadows. You were a symbol of hope to a hopeless people. Now as N7 and a Spectre, you could be that again. So how about it?"_

After a long silence, the Son of Rapture hesitantly nodded before grabbing the black armor and matching trench coat.

* * *

_Feros_

_Skyscraper "Underground"_

_Master Chief_

Caught dead center by the asari clone's biotic throw, the Spartan countered it by engaging the thrusters on his back. He slid back a few feet before unleashing a carnage blast that ripped his green opponent to shreds. The creepers behind her now surged forward, only to each receive headshots from the pistol in Chief's off hand. The moaning stopped as the last one dropped dead.

It had been like this for almost an hour now. Master Chief would take the only way forward, only to encounter a room completely full of creepers and one green asari identical to the commando he'd killed in the first chamber. Maybe it was getting repetitive, but to somebody like the Chief, that repetition was a weakness he had to exploit. Unlike Alex, the super soldier didn't get "bored" by an easy victory. In his mind, the less he actually needed to fight, the better job they were doing.

Of course, when faced with something bearing an uncanny resemblance to the one monster that could haunt both Spartan and AI equally, the Chief didn't mind savoring his enemies' deaths just a little. The only thing worse than the similarities to Gravemind were the loss of comm. systems this deep into the Thorian's caverns.

He was pleasantly surprised when the next room had light shining in. Deactivating his VISR, the Master Chief looked up to see that he was on the lower levels of a very large skyscraper. The center of the tower was open space, with countless open floors between his current position and the top. Speaking of the top…

"This may sound crazy," Cortana murmured sarcastically as Chief looked at the bulbous creature anchored to the walls high above them, "but I'm pretty sure we found the Thorian."

The Spartan switched his shotgun for his sniper and put a round in the massive thing. After hearing an indignant sounding wail, he replied, "You think?"

"That plant is ugly as sin, Chief. Somebody must have _really_ pissed off Gaia." This almost got a chuckle out of John. Almost.

The wailing was drowned out by the combined screams of dozens of creepers. They had not taken kindly to their master getting shot and intended to kill the offender. "Intended" being the key word in that sentence. Raising his shotgun, the Master Chief went back to work.

**BOOM**

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Med Bay_

_Docked at Zhu's Hope_

Cole was waiting in the med bay for Ryan to come back. He'd insisted on changing in his own quarters, claiming that he'd give Ashley a heart attack otherwise. _"Wiseass."_

In strode the Splicer King, wearing a modified – and very comfortable – version of his old Veteran Ranger armor from Retronuke Earth. Receiving the original after his personal defeat of one Vulpes Inculta had been his finest moment as a Supernova. While Cole was credited with the defeat of the Legion at Hoover Dam, and Alex Mercer was praised for destroying the entire Fort with Caesar still inside, Ryan's contribution was no less spectacular.

The Son of Rapture had single-handedly outmaneuvered the entire Frumentarii, brought the organization to its knees, dismantled all their operations, and wiped them off the map in less than a week. Finally, he dragged Vulpes, kicking and screaming, into the dead center of Camp Golf. Chief Hanlon let Ryan do the honors, then he awarded the Splicer King with his own set of the prized Black Armor and a position among the Veteran Rangers.

Helping the NCR by stopping the Frumentarii had been a doubly pleasant experience for Ryan. First, he'd been able to use his skills for sabotage and manipulation to do a good thing for the Wasteland. Second, helping the NCR was basically spitting on everything Andrew Ryan had believed in, and damn if that wasn't a wonderful feeling.

While quite similar to the original riot gear and duster, there were a few changes. Obviously there were rules against bringing things from one Unique's territory to another, so the suit he currently wore was made locally with materials available to residents of Shepard's galaxy. The largest difference was the armor underneath. Instead of an LAPD vest, it was a combat harness with kinetic barriers, lightweight and providing Ryan with his required mobility. Like his previous set of clothes, this one left both his forearms and hands exposed, though it came with "splicer gauntlets" for work in hazardous environments and vacuum (**A/N: Think of Subject Delta's plasmid glove, only human-sized**).

The trench coat had undergone a fair number of modifications too, just like Cole had said. Instead of leather, it was now made of some metal-polymer weave for further protection without losing flexibility. Resistant to all elements Ryan could toss out, and capable of teleporting and cloaking with him, it was nothing short of badass. The right shoulder and arm had the classic white and red stripes associated with his Special Forces branch in humanity. It also had the N7 insignia on the right side of the chest, just like the armor beneath it. On the back of the jacket, there was a design only those from the Capital Wasteland would recognize. The symbol was a blue vault door, with "Rev. 21:6" written on it in yellow.

"'I am the Alpha and Omega,'" Ashley recited, seeing the writing, "'the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the water of life freely.'" She tilted her head. "You don't strike me as the religious type, Commander."

Ryan shook his head. "I'm not. But I can guarantee you that this galaxy has nothing that's more valuable than water." Not a complete lie.

"Did Cole give you that?" she asked.

Twisting the truth again, Ryan nodded. "It's part of my life before the Alliance. I thought I had lost it for good."

Liara and Kaidan entered the med bay, ready to return to action with the Commander. As he turned to leave, Cole sent him a message with his dataphone. _"Let go…"_

The Splicer King smirked and sent a reply before putting on the modified – yet iconic – Veteran Ranger helmet and disappearing with his squad. _"And begin again."_

* * *

_Feros_

_Zhu's Hope_

_Entrance to Thorian's Lair_

As the three appeared, Alex scoffed at the familiar outfit. "We've been waiting all this time while you played _dress up_?"

Ryan grinned. "I'm not going down there to fight acid-spitting monsters shirtless a second time. I like my skin _on_ my body, thanks."

Rolling his eyes, the predator nodded towards the dark staircase. The team of six followed their viral sociopath into Hell's equivalent of a garden. Upon seeing the Thorian for the first time, their reactions were quite appropriate.

"Keelah, it's huge."

"They never covered anything like this at C-Sec."

"By the goddess."

"And they call _me_ ugly."

"Anyone have a really big lawnmower?"

"Looks like I'm having salad tonight."

"Not if I set it on fire first."

(**A/N: I'll let you guess who was who** **in this scene.**)

It was an enormous weave of plant matter with dozens of small tentacles hanging from its center and six massive ones anchoring it to the walls. Clearly if they needed to drop the thing, that's where to strike. Of course, Alex had a plan to learn the plant's connection to Saren: eat it.

He was about to waltz right up and do just that, but the sound of gunfire halted their forward motion. Ryan placed his hands out for everyone to halt and turned invisible. Slowly, he crept over to the edge, careful not to touch the disgusting sack of green nerves, and peered down at the source of the noise. While not surprised, the sight of Master Chief blowing apart everything in sight five hundred feet below them was a welcome view. Dropping the cloak, Ryan shouted down. "Chief!"

* * *

_Feros_

_Thorian's Lair_

_Lower Levels_

The Spartan looked up when he heard somebody call his name. Even from this distance, Chief recognized Ryan inside that outfit. "Looks like I'm not the only one with a wardrobe upgrade."

Cortana appeared on his HUD. "Yours is a wardrobe upgrade, Chief. It's pretty likely that, against acid-spitting creepers, Ryan just had a wardrobe _malfunction_." The activity on Master Chief's radar took a sudden plunge, and no asari clone had appeared for a while. "Either way, we need to get up there. I doubt our sudden reprieve from fighting can be attributed to your amazing luck."

"They're focusing on the closer threat," Master Chief concluded.

Giving the Spartan sign to Ryan for "no communication available," he engaged the thrusters on his back, and he began "leapfrogging" up a few floors at a time. At this rate, he'd be up to their level in about three minutes. Hopefully, they'd last that long without him.

* * *

_Feros_

_Thorian's Lair_

_Neural Node Complex_

Ryan swore. "No wonder we haven't heard anything. That far deep into the stone, he'd be lucky to get communication on tin cans and a string." The Splicer King broke down the strategy. "Alex, consuming it right now would be a mistake." He gestured to the nodes holding the Thorian in place. "Those aren't just for support. They're also part of its sensory network that extends over most of the planet. With that much neural stimuli flowing in, your mind will get overwhelmed. We take out a few of the nodes first, and then you can work your magic." He split up the teams. Alex would take Wrex and Liara with him from one direction, and Ryan would lead Kaidan, Tali, and Garrus from the other side. When the Thorian was on its last legs, Alex could chow down.

The virus snarled. "We've got to make this work, Ryan, and not just for Feros. I'm low on biomass, and everyone here is tired except you and the Chief. If this fails, it's game over for all of us."

Ryan shrugged. "We can handle some creepers."

Almost immediately, a green asari commando defied this arrogant statement by tearing into the room and casting a biotic warp at Ryan's head. Instinctively, he teleported out of the way, reappearing behind the new foe and subduing the threat. One hook severed the discolored asari's gun hand, and the other dug into her ribcage looping through the fifth and sixth ones and lifting her off the ground.

"Talk!" Ryan yelled. "Now!" When he got no response he twisted the hook a little more forcefully. "What did Saren want with the Thorian?!"

No response came, and they concluded that Ryan had killed her. He disagreed. "There was no way. The hook I used to sever her hand was on fire. It cauterized the arm, preventing bleedout. The one through her ribs was certainly nonlethal for a long enough time to get information. Why didn't she talk?" Wrenching his hook out of the corpse, Ryan shit a brick when another green asari was deposited on the ground below the Thorian's "mouth" region. It grinned sadistically, glowing blue as creepers now joined the fray.

"Shit!" he cried out, putting the pieces together. "Thorian-made asari clones."

Alex cried out with mixed frustration and delight at a new Nova-class enemy. He shifted to his whipfist and lashed out at the creepers, destroying them all for the moment. "Just remember to check colors before you shoot any asari. Blue's on our side."

At that moment, the _Normandy_'s own green commando burst up from the floor below, grabbed the newest asari doppelganger by the neck, and tossed her over the side for a long fall with a short ending.

Looking at Alex as if he'd been part of the earlier conversation, the Spartan cocked his head. "Green means bad, and blue means good. Anyone here colorblind?"

Ryan put his hooks away and formed a new plan. "Game changer, people. Garrus, you know the drill. Find a vantage point, scope, and drop. Kaidan, take Liara and Tali, and prevent Garrus' position from being swarmed when he's not looking. You're a good leader, Lieutenant. You can do it. Wrex, you're with the Chief. Just follow him, and when in doubt, blow shit up."

Alex cracked his neck. It served no purpose, but it was a gesture that he was fond of. "What about you and me, Ryan?"

The Splicer King grinned and lit his hands on fire. "We can traverse this stupid lair at angles impossible for normal people. We're gonna raise nonlinear hell!"

Hearing that holding back was no longer necessary, the virus gave a war whoop and leapt to another part of the room. The sounds of stone and skin breaking in equal measure echoed back to the group's position almost immediately. "You have your jobs," Ryan stated. "Let's kill this thing!" He flipped backwards and shattered out of existence.

Garrus scrambled for a perch that was a sniper's dream in this botanical nightmare. When he failed to quite make it, the turian gave a low growl. _"She had flexibility, so where the hell did my reach go?"_ He was knocked from his nostalgia when Kaidan gave the ex-cop a biotic nudge upwards. "Much obliged, Lieutenant. Now it gets fun!"

"Maybe for you," Tali complained, gunning down creepers with her shotgun. She'd taken up position directly below Garrus' perch, and the creepers were very intent on getting past her. Obviously the Thorian had recognized the turian sniper as a threat back on the surface. Pulling an ammo mod from one of her many pockets, she tossed it up to Garrus. "Shredder rounds might work better than tungsten right now!" Garrus caught the gift, replaced his current mod with it, and was proud to see the difference when the next slug blew apart a creeper's head and tore apart the chest of another one right behind it.

Meanwhile, Wrex and Master Chief had made an art form out of the destruction they wrought. The Spartan kept the creepers at bay with an assault rifle set for overkill while his krogan compatriot pounded the first of the nodes with shotgun blasts. When too much damage had been sustained, the giant tendril belched a sickening green liquid before turning a dead black color. "That's one down!" the battlemaster yelled as the Thorian screeched in pain. This was his kind of fight.

Alex ran screaming up the side of the central column. When he'd reached a satisfactory height, he jumped off the wall and latched onto another node with his whipfist. Swinging underneath the node over a vast expanse of nothing, the virus let momentum carry him back up until he'd done a full loop, whipfist wrapped around the neural node. Tugging sharply, the sociopath gave a bloodthirsty laugh as his serrated limb cut right through a second node on the Thorian. "Damn I'm good!"

Ryan wasn't just aiming for the nodes. He was aiming for the clones and as many creepers as he could find. Jumping down right into the center of a massive horde protecting another node, the Splicer King balled his fists and unleashed twin gouts of fire on them all before they could even begin to react. He was currently thankful for the gas mask on his Ranger helmet, as it kept the smell of burnt zombie from reaching his nostrils. Turning his attention to the third node of the day, Ryan switched to winter blast, froze the root of the tendril, and shattered it with a shotgun blast. "We've-" What he saw as he turned around killed any chance at humor.

Kaidan's leadership was effective against the creepers, but Ryan watched in horror as a freshly made asari clone blitzed the position with no regard for personal safety. It was a suicidal tactic, but with her barriers, the asari managed to pull it off. Garrus was dead unless Ryan acted now. He teleported to right behind the green asari, but just prior to gutting her on his hooks, the commando clone detonated her barrier, knocking Garrus back, and causing Ryan to drop back down.

As the asari raised another biotic barrier and dropped down to plant her shotgun on his chest, the Splicer King realized the truth. It had been her plan the entire time to lure him in for the kill. She used Garrus as bait, and those barriers would last long enough for her to pull the trigger. His shields down, with five seconds left before he could teleport again, the last thing going through Ryan's head was how pissed his sister would be.

_Five seconds_

"_My sister is gonna be so pissed about this."_ Garrus thought, before making a split decision that Ryan mattered more for stopping Saren than he did. Only one angle would let the turian shoot her without the Commander dying too, and he was going to take it. The turian scrambled off the ground and began running.

_Four seconds_

Time slowed down for Tali as she willed the clone's barriers to fall with each pull of the trigger. Her captain was about to die, and there seemed to be nothing anyone could do. She felt horrible now for being so angry about Lizbeth. She felt stupid for getting upset every time he teleported her someplace. She wished she could take it all back…

_Three seconds_

Garrus leapt off of his perch, plummeting towards the abyss below, but not before he'd rolled over in his fall, targeted the damn clone's skull, and executed a flawless, upside-down, midair headshot.

_Two seconds_

Ryan was stunned when the asari's head exploded instead of his own. He caught a glimpse of the barrel of Garrus' sniper rifle falling by and put the pieces together. _"Son of a… that's one hell of a shot!"_

_One second_

Not even hesitating, he leapt after the turian, using plasmids to increase the speed of his fall. It was only a moment before he had grabbed onto one of Garrus' legs.

_Teleportation cooldown complete_

They shattered out of the air – a preferable fate to shattering on the floor several miles below – and rematerialized back on Garrus' sniper perch. Ryan grinned. "I owe you."

Returning to sniping already, the turian clicked his mandibles. "I'd say that we're even after you saved me from a nasty fall."

Ryan shook his head. "Not when I can teleport. It's a rare occasion that I need my life saved by somebody else."

Garrus chuckled. "Fine, you owe me one then. I'll mark it down somewhere, since I'm sure we'll be saving each other's asses plenty more times before this whole mess with Saren is over."

The Splicer King nodded before turning to Alex, who had just cut through another node with his blade. "Try consuming it now! Wrex, Chief and I will handle the rest of the nodes if you meet any resistance in there!"

Alex nodded, eager to end this. With another war cry, he shifted to hammerfists and jumped straight at the main body of the Thorian. "Knock, knock!"

* * *

_Feros_

_Thorian's Lair_

_Inside the Thorian_

"_**Have you come for me, virus? First you take my thralls, then you kill my flesh. Now you seek to devour ME?!**_

"**Pretty much, yeah. You have knowledge on Saren. I need that knowledge. Too bad for you."**

"_**You know not the significance behind what you seek. Within my extended consciousness, you shall not find it."**_

"**With every node my allies take, your ability to hinder my search grows exponentially weaker. I just felt you lose another one, and I'm taking what I want."**

"_**A shame you destroyed so much of my neural connections, virus. Only your mind could truly understand all that I knew. Now, so much will be lost, and while you gain the Cipher, you know neither its meaning nor its dire importance."**_

"**You say that like I give a shit. Maybe you've lost a lot of your own knowledge that I might have liked having, but this Cipher looks like what Saren wanted. By the way, that sounds like your anchors giving way."**

"_**You will pay for this, virus! Search the Cipher and see for yourself! You cannot hope to stop the onslaught that is to come!"**_

"**Shut up and die already."**

* * *

_Feros_

_Thorian's Lair_

Alex Mercer tore out of the Thorian's "head" just as it began to fall. He was halfway through the air when the pain of the knowledge hit him like a fighter jet. The Blacklight virus crashed spectacularly onto one of the upper floors as he screamed in agony. The Cipher was making itself at home in his head.

* * *

_Web of Intrigue Node 666_

_It all made sense. This was what it meant to look at the world as a Prothean. The Thorian had consumed Prothean minds, and now he was consuming the Thorian. A direct consumption was potent and powerful, but this indirect one held less meaning for the virus. Thus, he couldn't take their culture and fully mesh it with his own the way he normally did. However, Alex could now subconsciously recognize Prothean speech, and whatever they had been meant to understand, so would he._

_He still saw the same images, but now he understood them a bit better. It was death and destruction like before. It was on an ungodly scale that no force in existence should tolerate, but more importantly, it was a warning to get away from the source of it all. As Protheans were melted down into… something – he couldn't tell what – they were trying to let any survivors know that the galaxy was not safe from the threat. Nobody was safe from the threat, __**anywhere**__._

_There was more. He saw the Mu Relay, and… dammit, what was the significance? He was missing something here. Still, this vision was screaming one word at him in picture form. One word that was equal to the root of all evil:_

_That word was REAPER._

_End of Node 666_

* * *

Alex gasped for air as the vision faded. There was more knowledge to be found and he needed to find it. The Protheans found it and… what was up with his vision?

Looking around, Alex saw that everything was now some variation of green or yellow. All of his other senses were gone for the moment, but his sight was off the charts. He could see footprints that had long since faded. Without knowing how he knew, the virus knew that they belonged to the asari clone. No, that was wrong. They belonged to the original asari, used by the Thorian to spawn the clones. But where was this original? Her footprints were mixed up with her clones' and they went all over the room.

Alex subconsciously emitted a sonar pulse from his mind. Naturally this did away with the new vision, as he now needed to hear. It flowed through the Thorian's lair, passing through anything that was currently irrelevant. Suddenly, it hit something of significance, and a return pulse bounced off this position and swept over the hunter's improved senses.

Smashing through a wall and jumping up two floors, Alex found the source of more knowledge. As he had concluded, it was the original asari commando that the Thorian had been using. Likely a "gift" from Saren, as she wore the same leathers as Benezia's armed escort from Noveria. If that were the case, she knew something.

His first instinct was to consume her, but the predator halted when he saw the unbridled joy of freedom on her features. Maybe she'd cooperate willingly? At the very least, the others should see this before he… picked her brains. "I've got something up here!"

Feros still had more to tell them, and he planned on listening intently.

* * *

**Yes, I just gave Alex Mercer **_**Prothean Vision**_**.**** I also gave him the Viral Sonar from Prototype 2, but that's much less cool in comparison in my opinion.**

**Unfortunately Alex still only gets the Cipher because the full Thorian knowledge would break the plot and make Javik far less fun to work with. I also threw in a reason why he'd be unable to suddenly explain everything about Prothean biology, history, and culture to Liara. If he'd consumed a Prothean directly, it would have worked, but some of the knowledge was lost in between consumptions. It's the only way I could make it work, and I spent two hours on that one idea, so deal with it.**

**Also, the closest image you'd get for Ryan's current armor would be a streamlined version of the Fallout New Vegas Riot Gear of your choice. Take off the helmet and give in a sharp face with black hair, and you've got the Splicer King during downtime.**

**I hope I covered everything. If not, let me know. Until next time:**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy! **


	28. Freaky Black Eternity Thing

**I bring you the end of the Feros arc. Next, we get back to the other stuff. There's not much action this time, but you should still enjoy everything that goes down.**

**Now, I'd like to thank JIMMYJAMSTER728 for assisting me with the sparring scene in this chapter. Per my friend's suggestion, I've also kept my alternate version of the same scene as a kind of cut content for you to enjoy. You'll be able to read the latter with the next chapter, as this one is too long for bonus features, and the following one will be rather short in comparison.**

**Summary: The Thorian is dead, and the colony is safe. All that remains is getting answers out of the asari Alex found. One "embrace eternity" later, the **_**Normandy**_** crew is back among the stars. That means it's another debrief, and by now it should be obvious how well those go…**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, Bioshock series, Halo series, Prototype, inFAMOUS series, Assassin's Creed, Fallout series, KotOR series, and Borderlands.**

**Disclaimer: I tried yelling "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL" at Bioware and all the other groups, but nobody gave me ownership. Go figure.**

* * *

Freaky Black Eternity Thing

_Feros_

_Thorian's Lair_

The rest of the team finally arrived soon after Alex had called them, but when everyone saw yet another asari, the virus stepped in before they filled her with holes. "Relax, guys. I didn't spare her life for you to end it. She wasn't here of her own free will. Well, not entirely." He turned to the commando. "Feel free to step in any time now."

The commando nodded, the unbridled joy still shining in her eyes. "Thank you for saving my life, and not just from the Thorian. My name is Shiala. I serve-" she paused and corrected herself. "I _served_ Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I."

Ryan gave the motion for everyone to lower their weapons. Barring the Chief, who'd been fighting asari for almost two hours now, they all complied. He motioned for Shiala to continue.

She sighed. "Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to-"

"To guide him as a force of good," Alex interrupted, unwilling to make Liara hear that tragic piece again. "But his flagship, _Sovereign_, can mess with people's heads. We heard the story from Benezia."

Shiala frowned in understanding. She turned to Liara, apparently recognizing her as Benezia's daughter, and said. "I apologize for your loss, Doctor T'Soni." Facing Alex once again, Shiala returned to the matter at hand. "As you could guess, I was a willing slave when Saren brought me here to Feros. He needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian. There was no other way to learn its secrets."

Wrex grunted. "Just like the Rachni. Saren sure likes sending his asari for aliens with tentacles."

Ryan laughed, before turning to face the battlemaster. "I could make a really racist comment about Saren's krogan right now, but I won't." Again, he returned the spotlight to Shiala.

Closing her eyes, the commando tensed. "Saren offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."

Garrus' mandibles twitched. "Damn bareface has no idea what it means to be a turian. Betrayal like that isn't how the Hierarchy operates, and it's certainly not how we ended up with the strongest military in known space."

Shiala gave a mirthless chuckle. "If it makes you feel better, he was quick to betray the Thorian too, thus the geth." She took a few steps back in forth, working out the stiffness in her muscles from remaining in one posture for so long. She began to explain the betrayal. "Saren knows you're after him, searching for the Conduit as he is. While he never seemed worried, the Thorian was still a liability. He ordered the geth to destroy it before you could obtain the Cipher."

As if choreographed, the entire squad looked at Alex for that usual display of memory pain. When he didn't even flinch, they were confused. The virus laughed his ass off. "Sorry, but that flashback left the building already. The Thorian was too damaged for me to take everything known by its sensory network. Still, when I consumed it from within, I got the Cipher she just mentioned. I've already got it, so there's no pain. Better luck next time."

Ryan shrugged. "Then what are we waiting for? If you've got what we needed, then why are we standing here?"

The virus lowered his head, allowing the hood to conceal his entire face. "It's a way to comprehend the Prothean vision, Ryan. It's the essence of being a Prothean. The Thorian got it by consuming dead Protheans thousands of years ago, and I got it by consuming the Thorian. I can subconsciously recognize anything Prothean, but I can't actively bring forth any details." Leaving out his new Prothean vision, Alex continued. "It's probably a good thing for you to have if possible." He raised his eyes just enough so Ryan could see the underlying message: Alex knew about the nightmares, and the Cipher might help.

Pondering for a moment, the Splicer King finally looked at Shiala and gestured to the abyss below. "How would I get the Cipher with big, green, and smelly all the way down there?"

Shiala chuckled, still trying to wrap her mind around having a free will again. "I couldn't tell you in a way you would understand. There is no simple explanation. You may as well describe color to a creature without eyes." She went on to explain how the Cipher required access to ancestral memory, and all the Supernovas in the room could think about was Desmond Miles and the Animus. What she was describing sounded an awful lot like the "Bleeding Effect" the Assassin had once suffered. He'd gained control, but it had been quite worrisome. They refocused when Shiala's lecture ended and she made an offer.

"There is still a way you could gain the Cipher, Commander Ryan." The commando looked intently at him. "I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren."

The squad's reactions were priceless. Alex, Wrex, and Garrus found it quite amusing that the success of the mission hinged on Ryan getting some asari "melding" action.

Kaidan, ever the professional, was concerned about the Commander's mental health if they did this. Would it be like the beacon on Eden Prime? Would it be worse?

Liara was quite thankful that Alex had gained the Cipher directly from the source. She was unsure if she would be able to watch him join with another asari right in front of her. She also was curious if Alex would let her see the vision for herself. Since his own mind could now comprehend it, hers should be able to make sense of whatever he'd seen.

Cortana and the Master Chief were both sharing a great deal of worry over this issue. Could the secrets of the Supernovas – of Halla and Solara – be kept safe from a mental union like this? The risk was possibly greater than the reward.

As was common around Ryan these days, Tali flushed with anger, jealousy, and embarrassment, and she thanked the Ancestors for her mask. She did _not_ want to watch Ryan get his head probed by an asari they just met. _"Keelah, she was on Saren's side. After that, she aided the Thorian. Why should we trust her?"_ Maybe those were excuses to rationalize her jealousy but Tali still knew why they had to do this. Alex may have thought he was keeping a secret, but she was an _engineer_, and a damn good one. Did they think she wouldn't notice the massive fluxes in temperature coming from the Crew Deck during the Commander's sleep cycles? She may have gotten used to the Normandy's silence, but that just made the loud noises from the CO quarters all the more capable of waking her up. She hated every bit of this idea, especially when Alex already had the damn Cipher. Still, if it gave her Pilgrimage Captain some peace, she'd put up with it.

As for Ryan himself, he didn't see much of a choice. His mind was a weapon as great as any plasmid, but ever since the vision, even without the nightmares he didn't feel quite as alert. It was like the early days of Rapture, when he was still getting used to every genetic memory contained within his body's ADAM. It was chaos in his skull, and this was the solution. He took off his helmet, and without a trace of humor raised a flaming hand. "Dig around in my head for anything that's not yours and I _will_ light you up." Once he was satisfied that Shiala understood the seriousness of his threat, he gave her the go ahead.

Her voice was calm, intent on imposing a meditative state. "Try to relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." Shiala now took several steps closer. "Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live." Now she was standing mere inches away from the Splicer King. "Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence." Shiala tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "Open yourself to the universe, Commander." Her head snapped back forward, and her eyes flew open, black as the void of space. "Embrace Eternity!"

* * *

_Ryan's world went red as the vision surged into the front of his brain. Vertigo would have made the man puke if he were still in the real world. He was looking at the pictures, but they made much more sense. He understood what he was seeing, and that alone put his mind at ease. The Protheans died at the hands of Reapers, that much was now established fact. This vision was meant to tell the possible survivors… something. Whatever the message was trying to say, it had to be important. He saw death, carnage, and wanton slaughter on unprecedented scales, but he saw a very familiar concept embedded in the vision. The one particularly nasty image that had haunted him every time was genetic material getting melted down. He knew because it was done in Rapture to enhance ADAM and purify EVE. The Little Sisters did it to corpses – "angels" they called them – but this was happening to entire populations at once, and they were still very much alive. What the hell did the Reapers do? There was the Mu Relay, a system, a planet, and that damn ship making the same unholy __**noise**__ again, always a reminder that the clock was ticking._

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN!**_

* * *

The real world smashed back into place fast enough to cause whiplash. Ryan quickly assessed his surroundings and saw that his left arm was burning. Shiala, startled by the flame, practically leapt backwards. "Goddess!" she exclaimed in fright. The Splicer King shook his arm, dispelling the genetic fire. Several of the squad laughed at the scene. "I have given you the Cipher," Shiala stated, eager to get past her embarrassing display, "just as it was given to Saren. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

Tali's nerves couldn't take it anymore. Ryan's face showed enormous pain and confusion. "Commander, are you alright? What happened?"

Ryan shook his head, applying the age-old technique to physically clear one's mind that science had long proven didn't work. "It was worse than a hangover, but it made some sense. I don't know Saren's endgame though."

The Splicer King looked at Alex for some indication as to what he should have witnessed, but the virus was grinning. "You don't get hangovers, Ryan. I've seen you down entire _cases_ of vodka without a hint of pain. The next morning, you go about your day like it was nothing."

Again, more chuckling echoed through the room at this fun revelation. Ryan awkwardly rubbed his neck before returning his attention to Shiala. He was on the verge of asking if she was a security risk when he saw it. He saw the flicker of pure terror in her eyes. She may not have intended it, but she had seen the monster that was Jack "Rapture" Ryan. He subtly shook his head, hoping that she'd get the message not to say a word, before inquiring, "Are you under the influence of either Saren or the Thorian anymore?"

This jolted Shiala from her fearful trance. "N-no, and if you would allow it, I wish to stay and help rebuild this colony. I played a rather large role in its suffering, and I wish to make amends." The subtext was clear: she'd keep his secret for the rest of her multi-century life.

Ryan nodded. "An admirable goal." He turned to the rest of the squad. "Who feels like it's time to GTFO?"

He was answered by a chorus of "Hell yes," "Keelah se'lai" and "Thank the goddess."

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Nostalgia_

"_Wrex always made threats to solve problems by eating them," Unique Shepard said. "But I've got to admit, I didn't think anyone would actually do it. And to the Thorian at that."_

_Courier Six looked at Revan, but the "fallen" Jedi simply shrugged. The Mojave Master sighed. "So you're saying it never occurred to you that this might happen."_

_Shepard paused before laughing out loud. "Now that I think about it, I'm really not surprised. It just scares me what they're capable of sometimes."_

_Revan smiled at his soldier friend. "I'm not sure if you realize this, Shepard, but that's exactly __**why**__ we use the Supernovas."_

_The hero that united a galaxy just stood there. "And with Fai Dan, they managed to save a life I couldn't. I'm liking the odds more each day."_

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_Departing Feros_

_Three hours post-mission_

"Get us out of here, Joker," Ryan ordered. "Burn sky until you see lines." (**A/N: If you can name that reference, you're my best friend.**)

"Copy that, Commander."

"So," Cole began weakly, still not fully recovered, "anything different about the visions now that you guys have the Cipher? Or are we still fumbling around in the dark?"

Alex grinned. "Well, I certainly won't be having another vegetarian meal anytime soon, that's for damn sure. I'll stick to the usual." To demonstrate, the virus downed his last pack of blood from the med bay. Between the colonists that he permitted to shoot him and the creeper acid, Alex had lost a lot of biomass. At one time, blood alone wouldn't do much at all. Then the Family, a group of self-proclaimed "vampires" in the Capital Wasteland's Meresti Metro Station, taught him a way to properly turn it into sustenance.

Ashley gagged at the sight. "That right there? That's FUBAR."

"You'll have to be more specific, Ashley," Tali said with a shrug. "That single acronym can describe our entire visit to Feros."

"Catchy. I can see the new tourism vids now," Garrus droned. "Welcome to Feros! You'll come for the geth…"

"And you'll stay for the ugly sentient vegetables," Wrex finished.

Kaidan rolled his eyes. "I'm hoping we walked away from this with more than a reenactment of Eden Prime. You guys understand the visions now, but it's not sounding like we've made a huge gain."

"The vision was a frantic, Prothean-specific message about getting killed by Reapers," Alex retorted. "It's not an instruction manual on what we need to do if a deranged turian starts flying around in a giant metal cuttlefish with an army of synthetics at his command."

"Perhaps I can help with that," Liara offered. They all looked at her, waiting an explanation. "Alex and the Commander have gained subconscious comprehension of Prothean culture, but it is nothing without contextual use. The ancestral knowledge from the Cipher lets them recognize and understand the vision because they are Prothean enough to know what it says. Personal knowledge would actively tell us what civilization was like for the Protheans fifty thousand years ago, but that was unfortunately not the Cipher's nature." She stood up, and smiled proudly. "I may not _be_ Prothean, but, as an archaeologist, I have studied them extensively. I think I can provide the personal knowledge necessary for this puzzle."

Everyone slowly figured out what she was getting at. Wrex and Garrus snickered again. Ashley and Kaidan rolled their eyes. Cole facepalmed at Liara's bluntness. The Chief, naturally, remained silent. Tali was unsure what she would do if she had to watch a repeat of the earlier event with Shiala.

Alex and Ryan looked at each other, trying to find a way to address the elcor in the room without sounding totally idiotic. Finally, Ryan spoke. "No offense, Liara, but I literally went through this three hours ago. One asari in my head was more than enough." Unfortunately, the Splicer King had no way of stating that Liara might see too much information held in the viral Supernova's head, like Shiala had. Still, Ryan didn't care if it would cause Saren himself to broadcast his plans on the extranet and give up without a fight. There was no way he was getting brain probed a second time. Tali's relief at his refusal did not go unnoticed by Ryan either. He'd talk to her later.

Alex sighed. "I'll do it, but my mind is not a toy. I'll direct you to the exact node containing the Prothean Vision, but that's all you get to see. Don't try looking at anything but what I show you, or you'll accidentally lobotomize yourself."

"_Okay,"_ Ryan thought, _"Maybe we're safe from exposure after all…"_

Liara frowned, "I do not think you understand, Alex. I would be the one directing the flow of thoughts. Your role is actually passive."

The virus chuckled, unnerving everyone in the room. "Whatever you say, Blue, but I reserve the right to gloat when you finish."

Liara rolled her eyes, and after one last comment from Cole to stay professional, she stepped forward. "Try and rel-"

"Wait," Alex interrupted. He pointed at Cole and Ryan. "This may hurt one of us a great deal. If I go crazy, zap me with everything you've got." Once he had their word, he looked back at Liara. "Continue, please."

The asari huffed, but then became serious. "Relax, Alex." She bowed her head, closing her eyes. Ryan knew what was coming. As she looked back up to her hooded protector, eyes black like Shiala's had been, she said the same words. "Embrace Eternity!"

* * *

_Web of Intrigue_

_(Foreign presence had entered the Web)_

"_By the goddess. Alex, where am I?"_

"_Not in Kansas, Liara. I'll tell you that."_

"_Is this…"_

"_My mind? Yes, yes it is. I call it the Web of Intrigue. This is the memory you're looking for. Pull up a seat, and enjoy your feature presentation."_

_Node 666 (revisited)_

_Prothean Vision_

_Again, there was an amount of death and destruction that even the viral sociopath couldn't find joy in. These images made sense, but they were still so damn frantic and fast. Xenocide had definitely been the right word for it. Synthetics that they now identified as Reapers, not geth, were slaughtering everything in sight. It was little wonder so few garden worlds existed now; the Reapers went and burnt them all. Protheans ran, and they died. They fought back, and they died. They surrendered, and they died. The only outcome to every scenario was death, and… worse. The ones that died… it looked like they were getting off easy in comparison to whatever this was he saw._

_The details were unclear, implying the Protheans didn't even know what was really going on. Whatever this Conduit was that they were looking for, it was somewhere beyond the Mu Relay._

_And they needed to find it soon._

_End of Node 666 (revisited)_

_Exiting the Web of Intrigue with foreign presence_

* * *

Liara stifled the gasp at the intensity of Alex Mercer's mind. She had been wrong, completely and totally wrong, in assuming that she would take anything close to an active role in a meld with him. _"Goddess, what was I thinking? He is the ultimate predator, and that means physically __**and **__mentally. To say nothing of the sheer potency of the images from the vision." _His occasional lack of sanity made a lot more sense to Liara all of a sudden. He had no need for such a _human_ attribute. The raw emotion left in the wake of such an experience was almost overwhelming for the poor girl, and she had to regain herself, the asari faced the virus. "You can gloat anytime now."

Alex laughed. "I'll save that for later, Blue. Right now, tell us what you found."

Liara rolled her eyes at the insistence of calling her such a foolish nickname. After all, every asari – those clones did not count – was either blue or purple of some shade. Though, she really didn't mind it that much, now that she considered it. "Well, I certainly understand why getting shot in the head does not seem to bother you. That experience would drive a man insane, but you started out that way." A round of applause broke out as the doctor cracked her joke. Even Alex smirked. Liara decided that payback felt good. "The experience was beyond what I know how to put into words. I can understand how you survived the beacon's transmission, but how did the Commander? His mental fortitude would need to be-"

"My 'mental fortitude' is just fine, Liara," Ryan cut in. "Genetic modification is a beautiful thing when you don't utterly screw up. Now did you see anything useful inside that sociopath's head?" He was in no mood to hear about his mind. The Splicer King hadn't been able to keep Shiala out of his secrets, but obviously Alex had no such problems. While an uncompromised cover was definitely a good thing, Ryan couldn't help but feel envious of the virus for his superior nervous system.

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged," Liara stated apologetically. "Large parts of the vision are," she shrugged, "missing."

Alex grunted in affirmation. "There was nothing we didn't already know or suspect. The Reapers were real. They killed the Protheans, and an enigmatic device called the Conduit is somehow involved in this shitstorm. Unfortunately, we don't know what it is, where it is, or why Saren cares."

Ryan snorted. "That's about what we had _before_ landing on Feros. What now?"

Cole had the answer to that. "We hunt."

Everyone gave him a look that clearly said "no shit, Sherlock," so the Storm of Elysium explained. "We've followed in Saren's footsteps and we've got nothing. That means he's holding the rest of the answers somewhere else. Right now, he's holding the cards, but if we can get a good look at those cards, he's lost the advantage." Cole sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "According to what you said about Shiala, Saren knows we're after him. Look how well it's gone when he's tried to cover his tracks. It led us to the Thorian and the Cipher, and it will lead us to the rest of the vision."

"Yes, that's it!" Liara exclaimed. "We must find the rest of the vision and-" She began to lurch back and forth, obviously coming down with mental fatigue."

Alex laughed again. "I told you my mind wasn't a toy. Get some rest, Blue."

Ryan stood up. "I don't like waiting for Saren to stick his turian neck out, but I'm more than willing to chop it off when he does. We'll go with Cole's plan. Dismissed."

Once again, as the squad filed out, Joker asked if the resident Spectres wanted him to patch the Council through. Maybe it was pointless, but the mission didn't feel over until they had browbeaten a few politicians.

Tevos opened the discussion with surprising diplomacy considering they'd been disconnected twice by the _Normandy_ so far. "Commander, MacGrath. ExoGeni should have told us about the Thorian. It would have made your jobs much easier."

Valern was a bit more critical. "I'm sure that the way Dr. Mercer… handled Species 37 was effective, but was there no alternative that could have left it alive for study?"

Alex scoffed at their ignorance. "While I was 'handling' the Thorian, I learned that it possessed a larger god complex than you could imagine. Any attempts to study it would be met with brutal rage. It thinks all 'lesser' races to serve no purpose beyond serving as its thralls." The grin on his face spelled doom for everyone. "Where have we heard that story before, Councilors?"

Having been forced into a double standard, Valern was forced to back down. Tevos sighed in frustration. These "humans" were irritatingly good at everything they did. "At least the colony was saved."

It was Sparatus' turn to complain. "Of course it was saved. MacGrath and Ryan would go to any lengths to protect a _human_ colony!" Again, he said the word with such disgust.

The Splicer King coughed awkwardly. "The anti-human song and dance is getting old Sparatus, but I'll humor you. Let me just say that you're… well frankly, you're dead wrong." The turian Councilor's mandibles clicked at the statement. "I took such great pains to save the colony because Cole demanded that it be saved. If you want to blame somebody for being a damn hero, blame him. The only thing I'm guilty of is keeping my word to a fellow Spectre, which is more than some Spectres who represent your people can say right now."

Sparatus was about to climb through the hologram and strangle Ryan, but the Son of Rapture kept up the heat. "Furthermore, I resent the fact that you think I'm some kind of crusader for humanity alone. That position is already filled by this Cerberus organization I've sent you _multiple_ reports about. I'd like to think I'm better than those scum, and I'm more than willing to save an endangered turian colony should the need ever arise." He smirked, thinking back on the first words he'd heard the Council say after Eden Prime. "Of course, that would _never_ happen. After all, 'the turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems.'" Before any of the three stunned Councilors could reply, Ryan looked at the ceiling. "Joker, I think we're done here."

Cutting off the Council for his insane employers yet again, the _Normandy_ pilot chuckled. "That never gets old, does it?"

"You _are_ better than those scum, Ryan," Cortana began, having begun the audio/video loop in the Comm. Room. "Cole told us what he knew about your black ops."

Ryan sighed. "Those are two very contradictory statements, Cortana."

Cole smacked him upside the head. "You know that's not entirely true."

Alex nodded. "You commit war crimes and assassinations. You blackmailed people and framed political adversaries for crimes punishable by death. You did all that and worse in order to make off with over fifty million in liquid and material assets on each operation." Ryan hung his head in shame, but Alex continued. "Yet every single time, you did your damnedest to make sure that the ones who suffered for your actions were the ones that actually deserved it."

Cortana picked up where the virus left off. "Warlords, drug cartels, corrupt officials, soulless corporate conglomerates, Pandora's Vault, they all were your primary targets."

Ryan slapped a hand over his face. "And all the innocent people that got caught in the crossfire or lost their livelihoods because of my wetwork?"

Unperturbed, the AI continued. "In the Wasteland black ops, you went after the people and places that had earned your splicer sucker punch. I don't think innocent is the word for the filth found in the Den, Talon Company, Littlehorn and Associates, the New Reno crime families-"

"Exactly!" Ryan screamed. "Families! It's all about friends and families!" Nobody seemed to follow, and the Splicer King took a breath to explain. "What do you think happens when the job is over? Do you think we can just leave, and everything stays just as happy as we left it? We don't ride off into the sunset and call it a day like heroes from an old comic book. Happily ever after is a myth, but I get ordered to turn it into fact once the dust settles from whatever crisis is going on. There's a world of difference between saving the day and saving the territory, and it's always my job to do the latter. It never fucking ends!"

Alex squinted at Ryan like he'd lost his mind. "What in the shitting hell are you talking about?"

Again, the Son of Rapture prepared for a speech. He was getting tired of this today. "I'm talking about friends of the Uniques. Anyone close to them. Any organization they sided with. Hell, any building that we broke while fighting the bad guys. I'm the one that keeps things running smoothly by providing a steady flow of income and resources by 'borrowing' it from groups that refuse to give up such things willingly. Tech for the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel is to ensure that they'll rebuild their damn robot. That way, the entire east coast will be secure. The West on the other hand, needs to be kept in check so that the NCR doesn't repeat history with much worse results. Their gold reserves are low, and I leverage them with the promise of more. It's not just the Wasteland either. Hundreds of millions of dollars are converted to Republic credits so that Revan's beloved home can somehow survive yet another stupid war with the Sith or whatever else is out there. You can beat down the man with the red lightsaber as many times as you want, but that doesn't rebuild a collapsing infrastructure." Ryan calmed down from his rant before picking back up with a gentler voice. "The remaining money goes to any and all people the Uniques think deserve happier endings. It's set up in the form of discreet funds that only I can arrange."

He looked at the other powerhouses in hopes that they would understand. "I told you that the rules had changed. Solara no longer runs on hope and positive achievements. It runs on the concept that we, the Supernovas, will _always_ be needed to make those positive achievements happen. It sucks, but I've learned to live with it."

Cole glared. "But you take five percent of each operation's profits. What do you need that kind of money for?"

The Rapture Raptor began to cry. It hardly affected his ability to speak, but the very idea of him _crying_ was an alien concept to them. "I keep that for my family." He snarled at the rest of them. "And before any of you say that I don't have one, keep in mind that I'm referring to Unique Jack Ryan's family. The five Little Sisters that he brought to the surface loved him like a _real_ father, and he treated them like his own daughters. I'm not Jack, but I've got the same feelings for those girls – now grown women – that he did." Slumping down on the floor, Ryan sobbed. "I've anonymously made their lives as safe, happy, and perfect as possible."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of money to pour into the twentieth century, Ryan."

The Splicer King gave the virus a death glare that actually caused the sociopath a bit of fright. "It's _my_ home, dammit, and I've been watching over it ever since I learned what 'Supernova' meant. Some of Jack's family – my family – came out of Rapture with the ability to have children still miraculously intact. One is even due soon. With Jack dead, I'm the only one that can guarantee the life they deserve. I'm good at ruthless manipulation, and I do it to look after them from the shadows. They are always under my protection, and as they have families of their own, I'll extend my reach to cover those lives as well. The daughters, in-laws, and grandchildren of the late Jack Ryan will get nothing but the best of everything."

"Wait," Cole interrupted. "You mean you haven't talked with them?"

Fresh tears poured down Ryan's face as he shook his head. "How could I? I'm literally the spitting image of their dead father in his prime! If I walked up to them and announced my existence, I'd throw their world into chaos. I'm nothing but a reminder of the hell they've been rescued from. No. I'll never make contact. It's better that way."

Drying his eyes, the Son of Rapture began to walk for the door. "You know all there is to know. I commit unspeakable atrocities for a good cause. I justify those actions by seeking out victims who deserve to suffer. All the resources I bring in go to improve the lives of people and places we affect with our actions. And all I get out of it is the happiness of a family that I can never be a part of. And now I may not even have that." He looked directly at Cole. "My integrity in the eyes of some Uniques has been compromised after I dealt with your Kessler problem. I don't know what's waiting for me when we go back to Solara, but I doubt I'll enjoy it." There was zero room for confusion in Ryan's eyes as he said, "If _anything_ happens to my girls because I bailed you out as a peace offering, I'll be coming for _your_ blood. Then you'll see what a real grudge feels like." The Splicer King stormed out of the room, too angry to teleport.

Alex clapped his hands sarcastically. "I give him an A for delivery, but this would never have been an issue if he'd just told us what he did."

Cole shrugged. "We didn't pry into Ryan's private life back then, and now all parties are paying the price. What Kessler forgets is that his methods are a minority vote among the Uniques. This was far from being called closure, but we've made more progress on this ship than we did for the entire year after Columbia."

Cortana chuckled from the Chief's helmet. "I'd say we've done enough soul searching. I'll look into what you boys found at ExoGeni. You all should go find something to do too. Feros has got everyone wound up really tight."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_Four hours post-mission_

"Uh hey, Commander? Next time we touch down, let's try not to park the ship in a colony of mutant zombies? Just thinking out loud here…" Joker was upset that he couldn't come up with something better, especially when the boss looked so upset.

Apparently it did the job, as Ryan began to laugh heartily. "Then I guess that rules out taking the ship to my hometown for shore leave!"

That wasn't a response the pilot expected. "Bad neighborhood?"

The Spectre walked away, still chuckling. "Joker, you have _no_ idea."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Liara's room_

The archaeologist turned at the sound of the door opening, but was confused to see nobody there. Shrugging, she returned to her work, only to bump into an upside-down Alex Mercer. He was standing on the ceiling over her desk. "Goddess!" she yelped, falling from her chair. The virus couldn't help but laugh. "I'm glad you find this so amusing!" she huffed.

Alex shrugged, dropping to the floor with a loud _thump_. "Floors are overrated. Besides," his expression became serious, "I needed to make sure nothing from my mind had rubbed off on you." He tapped his head. "This is _my_ brain and _I_ don't want to be in there. Why did you?"

"How do you know that I-"

"Blue, I know you're not stupid. You had no way of knowing if my mind was safe for a meld, but after watching Shiala, you knew for a fact that Ryan was safe. His excuse was a flimsy 'I don't wanna," versus my sincere warning of what could have happened if you weren't careful. In spite of all this, you chose me. Care to share?" He knew the reason, and he knew the risks of having this talk, but he didn't care. Alex needed to hear it from Liara herself at this point. Ryan's talk about a never ending supply of jobs had put things into a new perspective.

The asari was struggling to find any appropriate words, but she was happily – yet also frustratingly – interrupted by Joker on the intercom.

"_Everyone and anyone who can afford to leave their posts, get your asses to the Engineering Deck! Garrus and the Commander are having a full-contact sparring match. No guns, no freakshow. Just hand-to-hand combat! Engineer Adams, I want pictures!"_

Alex sighed and motioned for Liara to follow. As they were leaving her quarters he stopped and said, "In case you're wondering, we're going to get back to this later." He grabbed another blood packet on his way out the door, and they made for the deck below.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_Five minutes ago_

"Spirits damn it!" Ryan heard Garrus yell. The turian was furiously working at… something on the Mako.

Deciding to get to Tali in a minute, he approached the angry ex-cop and asked, "What's the problem?"

Garrus' mandibles flared. "The 'problem' is whatever Cole and Ashley did to this damn gun. Freezing a gun so you can fire more rounds faster may work for small arms like your shotgun, but a cannon like this can't afford that disruption to its systems. I'll be calibrating for the next three days straight!"

Ryan cocked his head to the side. "Is that really what this is about? Or are you trying to keep busy so you don't need to think about almost dying?"

"I could say the same thing about you, Commander," Garrus countered. "You've been through hell today, and you're still checking in on the rest of us when some sleep is in order." He paused for a moment. "Or is it the fact that you don't _want_ to fall asleep these days?"

The Spectre gave an overdramatic sigh. "Is nothing on this ship sacred from scuttlebutt?"

The turian chuckled. "Relax. I think only Alex, Cole, Tali, and I know about your sleeping problems. Why isn't Alex having the same trouble?"

"Because the sociopath doesn't _sleep,_" Ryan groaned. "Anyway, is calibrating the tank's gun really the only thing you can do for relaxation?"

Garrus shrugged. "Well, no offense to the Alliance, but turians have a different method of dealing with stress." He gave the Commander a smug look. "We work it out with violence. It's supervised, full-contact sparring. Humans don't have the discipline for it though."

Ryan's expression became equally smug. "Oh, that's a challenge if I ever heard one." The Splicer King began to remove his trench coat. "I've been itching to punch something that doesn't smell like dead flesh for the past six hours."

Garrus clicked his mandibles again before rolling his neck. "No weapons and none of your special tricks. Let's see how close we can get to a fair fight."

By the time they had laid down the ground rules, a crowd had gathered, due in no small part to Joker's liberal use of the comm. system. All off-duty personnel were watching. Alex and Liara were watching. Wrex was watching. Ashley, Cole, and Kaidan were watching. The Chief was watching, and thus so was Cortana. Engineer Adams was watching. Tali was watching. That last one gave Ryan the slight urge to show off, but he'd promised to keep his strength at something close to a normal human's level.

Once Cole said that he was using his Spectre authority to authorize betting, all omni-tools instantly lit up. Garrus got into a tight defensive position. "Bring it, _human_."

"Oh it's _on_ now, split-lip!" Ryan figured that the Chief would appreciate the old derogatory slang for Sangheili. He made the first move, feinting left before attempting a palm strike with his right.

Garrus, unable to duck, simply blocked with both arms, but Ryan expected this and grasped the turian's left forearm, reeling him in for a knee to the gut. At full strength, it would have cracked Garrus' armor and a few bones underneath. At quarter strength, it just stunned his friend for a follow up strike. _"Friend? When did they go from my allies to my friends? I called them friends in my speech when I came on board as acting captain, but now I actually __**mean**__ it. It's been a long time since I've done that."_

Ryan's distraction earned him a three-fingered fist in the face, but he just rolled full-circle with the punch and transferred the energy back to Garrus' shoulder. The turian had no real weak points with his armor still on, and he wasn't willing to damage the sniper's head… much. Garrus didn't seem to hold any similar notions, grabbing the hand that had struck his shoulder and twisting it behind Ryan's back. From there, he leveraged the Splicer King onto the floor, placing a knee on his back and snarling, "Tap out!" When Ryan just laughed, Garrus growled and repeated the order.

"Why?" Ryan asked before rolling forward, using his legs to catapult the turian clear over his head, putting Garrus on the floor and himself on his feet. "Getting tired?" Garrus moved to tackle him, but the Spectre just slid on his knees and back underneath the charging agent's grasp. Flipping up again, the Splicer King moved to end the match.

"And here I thought," Ryan grunted, placing a hand on the back of Garrus' head, "you only see a turian's back," he dodged Garrus' elbow jab and wrapped his free arm around it, "when they're dead!" On this last part, he slammed his opponent into the floor of the garage.

Standing over his victim, Ryan grinned at the crowd. "Show of hands: who here bet on the turian?" While it was funny to see a couple of the more skeptical crew members duck out with their tails between their legs, he was grateful to see that, despite her mood on Feros, Tali had bet on her Commander instead of her fellow dextro. The crowd was now dispersing, with only the Chief and Alex sticking around for some reason. Ryan was about to go follow the quarian mechanic, but he then remembered Garrus as the turian made a groaning noise.

"The boys at C-Sec would never let me live this down. A human beating me in hand-to-hand. Nice job, Commander."

"You showed real skill there, Garrus," Ryan stated as he helped the sniper to his feet. "I've got an unfair advantage, and you did better than a krogan field commander." He gazed at his friend intensely. "Now I know why I didn't get along with you at first, Vakarian." The turian's face had a "do tell" kind of expression. Ryan laughed. "You remind me too much of _me_!"

Garrus paused, obviously having expected some kind of sarcastic remark, but now he looked critically at the Splicer King. There was a new level of respect between the two men now, one that hadn't existed back at the start of this mess.

Clearing his throat loudly, Alex cut in. "I hate to kill the bromance here, but we have something."

Ryan stepped away from Garrus, upset that he had to put off Tali again. She deserved better after a day like this. "Let's hear it."

Alex cracked a manic grin. "We found Toombs."

* * *

**Yes, that's what you get to look forward to next time I post. I don't know when that will be, since my life gets turned upside down in less than a week. I may post again in a few days. I may not post until after the 12****th****. Sorry. *sniffle***

**Anyway, the Toombs rescue chapter will be far from how it went down in the game, so be prepared. It's also shorter, so I'll throw in the deleted scene from this chapter's fight with Ryan, as well as another sneak peek into my third part of the saga: **_**Scorched Earth**_**. Until then, you know the drill:**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	29. Dig Two Graves

**I am SOOOO sorry for the delays. Internet was nonexistent when I reached my destination, so I had to wait until it worked to post anything. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Expect another chapter soon, but first, some notes:**

**This chapter is for all the people with a Sole Survivor background like me. A Shepard with this personal history has endured thresher maws, and that's something even Reapers can't seem to manage. Do the math and feel awesome. **

**Mercwiththemouth, my guest reviewer: Your praise is appreciated and your advice will be taken seriously in the next chapter. And yes, Desmond Miles will be making a direct appearance in the Mass Effect Trilogy. Who says you can't bring a hidden blade to a gunfight and come out on top?**

**Also, as promised, the outtake from last chapter is located at the bottom of this page. And for putting up with my insanity, I threw in two upcoming scenes, one from each sequel.**

**Finally, I'm sorry to say that there's only a little action this time, but I'll be making up for that in spades next time you hear from me.**

**Summary: After six years, Alex finally locates the man that suffered so greatly at the hands of Cerberus. But it appears Corporal Toombs has gone from victim to vengeance, and that's a road Alex Mercer knows all too well. Can the Blacklight virus be talked out of delivering his own brand of justice?**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, Prototype, Halo, inFAMOUS, Bioshock, Saints Row the Third.**

**Disclaimer: Nobody was willing to settle out of court, so I don't own anything.**

* * *

Dig Two Graves

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Comm. Room_

_En route to Ontarom_

_16 hours since Feros_

The squad sat uncomfortably in the briefing room, unwilling to say anything that might turn Alex's rage onto them. Sure, he was grinning, but it wasn't a happy grin. There was no joy in his eyes, just pure mania. After hearing his story of Akuze – the real one, not the propaganda – it was obvious that the virus had been waiting for this day for six years. He was grinning at the pathetic irony. The fools calling themselves "Councilors" had once made it impossible for Alex to rescue Corporal Toombs. Now they had indirectly given him the means to do just that, and it was long overdue at this point.

The MIA soldier was on the warpath, and Alex knew it was revenge for Akuze. The data they found, added to what Hackett could afford to show them, indicated that multiple rouge Alliance scientists were suddenly turning up dead. With Akuze serving as the common link between each fresh, it was no surprise that this was Toombs' doing. These scientists must have been long gone with the captured soldier before Alex and Cole reached Akuze. The predator was impressed at the Corporal's handiwork. To go in guns blazing against increasingly heightened security, succeed in reaching the target, _and_ escape to continue the hunt every time was no small task. Unfortunately, dead scientists don't provide a good testimony, so it was urgent that they reach this Dr. Wayne before he became the next casualty.

Finally, the silence became too much, and Wrex broke it with his usual tact. "Ten maws, Alex?" The krogan rumbled with amusement. "The Rite of Passage on Tuchanka requires _surviving_ just_ one_. Nobody killed theirs since my time centuries ago, but… _ten_?!"

Cole snorted. "You guys keep forgetting the part where I killed the last two threshers. By my count, that still puts me ahead of you, Wrex."

"Sorry Cole," Ashley laughed. "You needed lightning from the sky. It sounds more impressive when Alex did it with his bare hands, uh, claws… whatever you call a shape shifter's arms." Now it was everyone else's turn to laugh at the Gunnery Chief's rare loss for words.

Alex just shook his head, still grinning. "Well you have the story. I'm not a soldier by any means, but I've consumed enough of them in my time to know that you don't leave a man behind."

Kaidan, Ashley, Master Chief, Ryan, and Garrus all responded with a monosyllabic grunt of approval, earning strange looks from the rest of the squad. They concluded that it must be a military thing.

Tali pulled up the map of the area surrounding Dr. Wayne's "secure" bunker on the planet, displaying it in the center of the room. "I don't exactly see an easy approach with the Mako. Alex could drop right down, but any backup would take some time reaching him, even with Cole's ability to enhance the landing."

"Got it!" Cole announced. He pointed to a narrow valley on the display. "Kaidan, Ashley, and Liara can drop here without help from me, and it's only a short drive to the base." The conduit sent the image to their pilot. "This work for you, Joker?"

"Want me to do it with my eyes open or closed?" By now they knew the helmsman was – mostly – kidding.

"Wait," Liara cut in. "I can understand sending Kaidan and Ashley. They are Alliance Marines and would be a welcome sight to the Corporal. But why am I participating?" She folded her arms and looked accusingly at Cole. "And why are you not dropping with us?"

Cole smirked. "Asari are known for their mediating skills. I doubt this will be the most pleasant of meetings, so you'll be there to," he shrugged awkwardly, "mediate." The way Alex' grin suddenly vanished did not go unnoticed. "As for me, I'm dropping alongside Alex to give this mission a Spectre presence as soon as we hit the dirt. After all, Ontarom is a garden world, so we technically can't use weapons of mass destruction…"

This got a laugh from everyone except said WMD. "I still think we're making a mistake. Saving this pitiful excuse of a doctor from Toombs will give us a warm fuzzy feeling and not much else. If I consumed Wayne, then we may get a solid lead on Cerberus."

Ryan shook his head. "Normally, I'd agree. Unfortunately, the confession has to come from Dr. Wayne personally. That's totally different from you wearing the man's face."

"You're telling me," Cole groaned. "The memories of Agent Tobias Grant from Akuze would have done wonders, but nobody could trust that Alex wasn't 'forging' convenient memories. They tossed the whole case out. With Dr. Wayne, we've got a second shot to prove what really happened on Akuze. Let's not waste it. We've got two hours until we reach Ontarom."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Enough of this boy-scout shit. I'll be in the armory since I actually need a gun this time. The last thing a vengeful PTSD needs to see is a man with claws instead of arms." He stormed out of the room before anyone else had time to blink. Between placing Liara on the ground team deliberately for her calming effect on the virus and his decision to personally keep an eye on Alex, Cole was going all out to keep it clean.

Back in the comm. room, now Cole was the one grinning. "Well then, I guess that's crew dismissed."

As everyone filed out, the conduit stopped Ryan at the door. "I'll handle Alex, don't worry. Just see if you can actually get some sleep." His Spectre partner nodded reluctantly. As they went their separate ways, Cole already knew the chances of the Splicer King resting peacefully were slim to none.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Armory_

_ETA Ontarom: 2 hours_

Almost everyone usually found on the Engineering Deck was staying away. Alex didn't seem to want company. Wrex however, was utterly unafraid of the consequences, and he went back to his usual place by the ship's armory.

"Mercer."

"Wrex."

Neither one gave a shit, and that's how both liked it.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_ETA Ontarom: 1 hour, 30 minutes_

_Ryan couldn't believe what lay before him. Seeing the galaxy on fire was a nightmare beyond all measure. This? This was the only thing that could possibly be worse._

_Rapture Earth. His home, his __**daughters**__, it was melting right in front of him, and as usual, he couldn't stop it. There was no noise this time at least. He couldn't hear it over his own screams of agony._

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Normally, this was the part where Ryan would leap off the bed with a gun aimed at the door in less than a second. Unfortunately, he wasn't _on_ the bed. The Splicer King was on the ceiling. "Oh shit."

As he dropped, Ryan twisted like a falling cat and landed on all fours. Telekinetically pulling the gun to him, he launched a scout plasmid through the door. Seeing that it was just Tali, he relaxed, returned the pistol to its hiding place and put on his shirt. Teleporting out of the room, Ryan appeared right behind the quarian, scaring her half to death. "You knocked?"

Tali glared. "Yes, I knocked. On the _door_. When are you going to learn that some people like using those things?" When Ryan just smirked, she backed down and sighed. "Respectfully Commander, keep yelling like that in your sleep and this 'stealth ship' won't be very stealthy."

"That loud, huh?"

"I had to cut the auditory emulators on my helmet."

Ryan huffed. "What am I supposed to do? The Cipher didn't make things better, they just gave everything clarity and meshed Prothean knowledge with my own life experiences."

Tali tensed at the mention of the Cipher, but her commander didn't see it. He was already walking into the mess hall for that wonderful substance known as coffee. Or at least, the military's crappy equivalent. "I have a feeling that the nightmares are only so bad because they're incomplete. Like Liara said, we're missing a piece of the puzzle, and Saren probably has it."

The quarian mechanic cocked her head. "For years, I had nightmares of geth trying to kill me. Strangely, now that they actually _are_, the bad dreams have been totally absent." She chuckled softly. "Talk about facing your fears."

"Speaking of which," Ryan paused and took a sip of his coffee. "How's the progress coming on that information we picked up at ExoGeni? Any idea what the geth are up to?

Tali shook her head. "That damn file is tough to crack, Commander. I'll maybe have an answer in five days. Maybe a week. It's a destination, I know that much, and the intent seems to be preparations for some large offensive, but they _really_ don't want anyone else to know about it."

The Splicer King frowned and started back towards his quarters. "Keep at it, Tali. The only 'offensive' I want in the foreseeable future is the one that puts Saren downrange of my shotgun."

"I make no promises, Commander." This odd statement made Ryan stop and turn around. Tali was smirking under that mask, he could just tell. "If anyone has shotgun rights on that geth-loving bosh'tet, it's me."

For the first time in a while, Ryan genuinely laughed. "Crack that data first, Miss Zorah. Then we'll talk about who gets first dibs." They parted ways, one to continue her work, the other to finish his coffee.

Of course, Ryan only made it to the hall before one Cole MacGrath intercepted him. "Ryan," he whispered, checking for any unwelcome guests. "I'm not sure bringing Alex is the right idea anymore. He can't set aside his emotions aside this time. Akuze is just too close to home in too many ways. He wants Cerberus, and he wants Wayne's blood, and he wants them _bad_."

Ryan shook his head. "The only outcome if we leave him behind is a shipwreck in Ontarom's airspace. Just watch him carefully."

The pair headed up to the CIC, ready to plan for worst-case scenarios. When a certain eavesdropping asari quietly ducked into the elevator behind them, just as Cole had anticipated, the conduit pretended not to notice.

The electro-Spectre had concluded much earlier that calming Alex down this time would require a... woman's touch.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Armory_

_ETA Ontarom: 1 hour_

The elevator opened, revealing a very determined Liara. She quietly approached Alex, hoping he was in a better mood than when he'd left the comm. room. What about Akuze inspired such powerful emotions within him? According to Cole, this was about Cerberus and Dr. Wayne, but the question was, why? What in his nonexistent past had put Alex in this mood?

Liara always loved unlocking the secrets of history, but this wasn't a Prothean ruin. At first, the Prothean connection was what drew her to the inhuman Alex Mercer, but now it was different. This was a man – of sorts – that Liara had inexplicably grown to care for and admire. She now knew for certain that he was troubled, and she desired to help, but how? What would she say? More importantly, what would _he_ say? Did he even want help?

The asari maiden shook her head. The only way she would learn anything was to speak directly with the source of her many concerns. As she slowly passed by her armor locker, it dawned on Liara that for once, _she_ was the one seeking _Alex_ out for conversation, not the other way around. _"And it just had to be when he is the least inclined to have a meaningful conversation."_

"Something you need, Dr. T'Soni?" The unmistakable voice of Alex Mercer startled Liara out of her current thoughts. From his tone, he sounded both irritated by the interruption and amused by the poor attempt at stealth. She couldn't tell which, though, since the virus had yet to even turn away from his work.

"I want to know what about our current mission truly bothers you." Liara figured that the direct approach would be the one he preferred most. "Despite what you said before about no man left behind, I suspect that your concern for Corporal Toombs is," she searched for the right word, "tangential at best." When she didn't get a response, Liara glared at the back of his hood. "Alex, you have been aiding me from the beginning. You saved me repeatedly, often at great personal injury. You were there for me on Noveria, and I wish to return the favor."

Liara inwardly cringed at her own words. While treating the matter like a debt to be repaid had a better chance of making him talk, she desperately wanted Alex to know that she truly cared for him. Slowly drawing closer to the sociopath, Liara kept her voice as firm as possible, "Please Alex. Let me in. Tell me why this impacts you more than anything else we have seen in our journey. What makes punishing Dr. Wayne so… personal for you?"

After several moments of painful silence, Liara gave up. She was halfway back to the elevator when Alex finally began talking. "I told you what I was, but not how I got that way." Liara turned to see the predator stop his work and look at her.

"What I'm about to tell you has been wiped from history. I'm the only proof that it ever happened. There was a city, and like Akuze, it was nothing but a military project. The goal of the experiment was to create a viral weapon that could be used to target specific racial types. They injected the virus into all residents of the city. Officially it was a 'harmless solution that simulated nuclear fallout' so nobody asked questions, and most even willingly cooperated. Unforeseen events were set in motion, and that not-so-harmless virus laid waste to the entire city, just like the maws at Akuze. And the military spooks just _let _it happen, observing the results for something useful. Much like Toombs at Akuze, a single person in that city piqued the government's interest, and she was carted off for more experiments. Her infection was modified by Dr. Alex Mercer, but he wanted to know the truth. He wanted to know where she came from, and that was what got him killed, creating me in the process."

Alex clenched his eyes shut, obviously remembering something traumatic. "At first, I had no memories and only one thought on my mind. I wanted revenge, _just like Toombs_. I needed somebody to blame, somebody to punish, and most of all, I needed answers to all those damn secrets. Unfortunately, I got exactly what I was looking for, and millions of people suffered because of it. Toombs is doing the same to these scientists, and now it's bringing back the faces of every life I took during my own slaughter spree."

Turning his back to Liara, Alex sighed. He hated doing this, but it was necessary. She was too innocent for the predator, and even if it meant losing her, Alex would not allow Liara to get involved with him. He had no right to drag the asari down his dark and bloody path, especially if Alex would only have to leave her stranded there at the end of their job for Unique Shepard.

"Do you understand now, Liara? I carry the deaths of hundreds of thousands with me, and there's more to come without any doubt. I'm not some noble paragon like the others on this ship. Hell, I'm not even hum-"

**SLAP!**

Liara had come around to his right side and smacked the virus across the face. It took every bit of his willpower not to immediately respond with violence like he usually would. Alex looked at the asari in confusion. She was on the verge of tears, and he saw pure indignation in her eyes.

"Don't you _dare_ use that excuse, especially with me!" she yelled. "You saved me on Therum. You consumed Elanos Haliat and put his wealth to good use. You spared Helena Blake, and Nassana Dantius. On Noveria, you were always there when I needed it. You saved me from the explosion in the garage, and you protected me from my mother in Peak 15. But did you consume her for information? NO! Simply because I asked you to, you spared Benezia that fate. Speaking of Peak 15, you created a cure there to stop a deadly toxin, and you even freed the Rachni Queen! After leaving Noveria, you comforted me, and even let me know my mother _loved_ me. Benezia did not even say that in her last moments of freedom, opting instead for 'I made her proud.' And what of Feros? You saved me there too, and you might have even kept the colony from starving. Oh! And why did you not simply kill all those colonists? They attacked us, and as such, they posed a threat. If you wanted to end them, it would have been _effortless_. Why instead did you force me to run with Kaidan while you _let_ yourself get shot for the sake of buying time?"

Having made her case, Liara folded her arms and gave Alex a look she recalled her mother using on bullheaded diplomats. "You are a powerful individual, Alex, unlike anything else in the universe. The ultimate predator for sure. But I have yet to see this sadistic abomination you claim to be. I have witnessed you manic in personality and vicious in combat, but you have still displayed far too much humanity to deny having it." Narrowing her eyes, Liara issued a challenge. "So tell me, virus. _What is your humanity worth_?"

With that, the asari turned on her heels and walked back to the elevator. Only once inside did the tears begin to fall.

Alex looked at his modified weapon on the bench and snarled. It sucked, but she was right. Near the end of his third week in New York, Alex had begun to literally evolve a conscience. While it didn't stop him from committing wholesale slaughter, the way Blackwatch intentionally wasted lives to slow him down actually sickened him like it would a regular person.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Manhattan Outbreak Day 16_

_Alex Mercer, codename: ZEUS, clenched his teeth as yet another of Colonel Taggart's helicopters exploded. He'd been at this for the past forty-five minutes, destroying them all with the Blackwatch gunship he'd snagged. Taggart was his one and only ticket onto the Reagan. If he didn't get on that ship, he'd lose more than the secrets of Hope, Idaho. That bastard, General Randall, was planning to completely erase Manhattan with Operation Firebreak. With Dana still inside the city, there wasn't a damn chance of that happening._

_Practically ripping off the cyclic in his efforts, the Blacklight runner avoided tanks, missiles, and engaged other gunships a brief dogfight, all to chase down the last two escaping choppers. This was something totally different. Sure, they were still trying to kill Alex, but not for the usual reason. Instead, Taggart had the sacks to order all these men to their deaths, just so he could __**try**__ and escape the city. How many had he killed today for the sake of one worthless coward?_

_Emphasis on the "try" part. Alex had finally reached the last two helicopters and he'd locked on target. He squeezed the trigger, blowing the first one out of the sky. Now the virus targeted the last of his flying prey, and nothing happened. The damn thing was out of ammo! _

_Snarling, Alex hit the throttle and flew directly toward the final helo. It was gonna have to be the hard way. Ramming his gunship straight into the fleeing airship, ZEUS bailed out of the midair wreckage. He dropped over sixty stories and hit the ground running. So much foolish waste of life._

"_Damn you, Taggart. Damn you for making me do this."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

Alex sighed. Liara was rare. She saw the man before witnessing the monster, and she was accepting of both. He had been a damn fool to push her away. But what could be done now? By the time the crew arrived in the Mako, he and Cole would have finished-

And that's when Alex noticed it. He saw clear evidence that this had all been one massive setup from start to finish. _"Cole, you clever bastard."_

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Hangar_

_Approaching planet surface_

The elevator opened, and Alex heard the familiar sound of his electric friend's spark-stepping. "Not bad, Cole. You turned my anger against me, discussing the real plan behind my back. By the way, who royally screwed up the damn Mako?"

Standing on top of said Mako, Cole chuckled. "I guess Ryan and Garrus forgot to mention something. This tank still can't shoot straight after Feros, thanks to yours truly, so we never really planned on using it. After your little sob story by the armory, I called Liara, Kaidan, and Ashley on private comm. lines for the _actual_ pre-mission briefing. Here's the short version." The conduit hopped down and grinned. "Joker is going to hover right on top of the bunker. It's gonna be an eight foot drop instead of a ten kilometer one. Of course, you and I will drop from about forty feet and kill the welcoming committee."

The virus shook his head, angry but impressed. For Cole to outsmart him, it required the conduit to think like Kessler and play on every weakness Alex had. His anger, his overconfidence, and his very real soft spot for Liara had been exploited perfectly. "Just so we're clear, I'm in charge of both Dr. Wayne and Toombs' fates. This has been my op for years now, and Wayne is mine to take down."

"Good," Cole replied. "Then you won't mind helping us stop Corporal Toombs from getting to him first. Let me teach at least one man today that revenge isn't the right choice."

"You're one to talk," Alex scoffed. "I'll play nice with the other kids for now, but the rogue doctor's fate still remains to be seen." The sociopath glowered from beneath his hood. "Subtly nudging Liara to speak with me was low blow. I'd deck you for it, but you're immune to blunt force trauma."

Their pilot chose this moment to cut in.

"Approaching drop point. Sorry Alex. They made me." He didn't sound sorry at all.

"Don't worry, Joker. If I killed you, then I'd have to fly this ship myself."

"Feeling the love here. Really, I am." The cheeky helmsman had tenure and he knew it. Joker proved this by bringing _Normandy_ down into a valley that no other man would have considered approaching in a frigate.

Cole dropped first, taking care not to catch the bunker entrance in his blast radius. Alex landed second, pounding high-impact slugs downrange, each one detonating on impact. He had dubbed his destructively beautiful new assault rifle the "Striker". Krogan near and far would absolutely love this thing someday.

Once the perimeter was clear, Joker descended low enough for Liara, Ashley, and Kaidan to jump out. The mercs inside would have been alerted by the outer guard, so the clock was ticking. They had a doctor to save… from Toombs at least.

* * *

_Ontarom_

_Underground Science Facility_

_Base Interior_

The shooting started pretty quickly, and that meant it would be mere seconds until Toombs decided to put Dr. Wayne in the ground. Cole groaned at their luck and turned to the three Nova-class squad members. "We're bypassing the mercs before Toombs gets trigger happy. See if you can keep these boys entertained!"

Orders given and received, Cole instantly reached the back corridor in a few spark-steps, leaving a shock grenade behind with each one. As Alex ran behind him at full speed, a krogan mercenary was stupid enough to try blocking the predator. Not bothering with anything fancy, the virus just grabbed the idiot by the skull and pulled the trigger at point blank. He was caught in his own weapon's explosion, but unlike the krogan, he shrugged it off. Alex was through the door before the headless corpse landed even on the ground.

Liara began glowing blue, and the room started to gently shake. It wasn't an exact science, but "purebloods" like her tended to possess stronger biotics than asari with mixed parentage. Liara refused to play with these mercenaries while Cole and Alex had their little ethics debate. If it meant going all out to keep ahead with those two, then so be it!

Running into the room, the archaeologist let her barriers absorb the incoming fire. When the second krogan merc finally closed in, Liara released a massive biotic detonation, turning the large warrior and several others to ash. As much as she wanted to keep up her dash for the door, Liara was now forced to take cover. Rather than a pistol though, she grabbed the shotgun Tali had modified with cryo rounds and kinetic coils for her. _"By Athame, I __**will**__ reach them in time!"_

Kaidan pulled out the Kassa Breaker assault rifle on his back, earning a look of skepticism from Ashley. "Never seen you use that thing, LT. Sure you know how?"

In response, the sentinel ducked out of cover and tore apart the two closest mercs. "There's a lot of crazy in the room right now Ash! I figure, what the hell? I may as well add to it."

"Amen to that, sir!" Ashley replied, equipping her sniper rifle and duking it out with the two mercenary snipers guarding the door Alex had just busted through.

* * *

"Stay back! I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!" Toombs had a wild look in his eyes, but he still held his gun with the training one would expect from an Alliance marine.

"Please! He's a madman!" Dr. Wayne was obviously trying to paint himself as the innocent victim. "Mr. Toombs you're insane you need help!"

As much as the Supernovas hated to agree with the morally bankrupt doctor, Toombs clearly was unhinged, and with a gun at Dr. Wayne's head, this could get ugly fast. Cole was about to step up, but Alex beat him to it. "No Doctor, he's far from insane. It's called PTSD, and it's all your damn fault. You and Cerberus."

This got Toombs' attention. "Y-you know what they've done? Then why didn't anyone come for me?"

Cole fielded that question. "We wanted to help, Toombs. We've been trying to find you for the past six years. These bastards at Cerberus are damn good at covering their tracks, though."

Alex stepped forward. "We know what they've done to you marine. We know you had thresher maw acid in your veins. We know they've been treating you like a lab animal for all this time, and it's going to end. I promise you, I'll destroy the entire organization if I can. But if Dr. Wayne dies, then any chance at stopping Cerberus dies with him!"

"I don't care about the organization!" Toombs screamed. "I just want to kill these monsters that used me for their sick experiments! The ghosts on Akuze will be put to rest at last!"

Calling on the memories of several marines he'd consumed, Alex played one last card. In a drill sergeant voice, Alex bellowed, "Corporal Toombs! Courage is what?!"

Almost on instinct, the traumatized soldier snapped back to old habits. "Courage is enduring for one moment more, sir!"

Alex kept it going. "Then get your shit together and endure! You enlisted knowing the risks, soldier! This just happens to be one of 'em. Pulling the trigger is the weak solution, Corporal. Are you gonna tell me that their bullshit torture has made you, an Alliance marine, _weak_?!"

That did it. Toombs already knew what the right choice was. All he'd needed was to hear it in a familiar tone of voice. He dropped his gun. "They can't make me a murderer. I just wanted the screaming to stop."

Alex momentarily faltered at these words, so close to his own sentiments. Shaking his head, the virus could only offer token advice. "If you try to drown them in blood, Toombs, they just get louder."

By now, thanks to Liara's efforts, the rest of the team had arrived. "We heard yelling, but it looks like the party's over," Ashley commented. Upon seeing other Alliance marines, Toombs immediately fell in line. In between Kaidan and Ashley, the Corporal trudged back toward the bunker's exit.

Then Dr. Wayne just had to blow it. "I can't thank you enough. Of course, unless I testify, you have no case against-hurrghk!" In an instant, Alex had lifted his prey high off the ground. He tightly, yet effortlessly, gripped the worm by his throat, and there was no way he planned to let go. Before Toombs could even respond to this new development, Kaidan and Ashley had already started hauling ass – both theirs and his – out of the bunker.

"_**Cerberus?"**_ Alex finished, shifting into the long-dead Agent Tobias Grant from the Talladega Cell. "You were listed as 'W' in Agent Grant's reports, and that anonymity saved your worthless ass for all these years." Changing back to himself, the virus smirked. "Now you're gonna see what a _real_ terrorist can do."

"Put him down, Alex!" Cole yelled. "If he doesn't testify, the lives touched by Akuze will never get the closure they deserve!"

The predator just snarled. "Do you have any idea how comfortable this little shit's life would be in Alliance custody? He'll trade what he knows for immunity and a luxurious early retirement. Why should the Alliance waste millions of credits to convince him to testify when I could get the same information for free? Which is preferable? And what would they need with this bastard's testimony when I've taken his knowledge and used it to wipe Cerberus off the galactic map? If your boy-scout ass doesn't want to watch, then take Liara and leave."

Liara closed her eyes and took a calming breath. In this next moment, whatever existed between Alex Mercer and herself would be either strengthened or destroyed. Folding her arms, the asari issued another challenge. "I'm not leaving, so you may as well do it right now." Alex didn't drop his prey, but he turned his gaze to Liara. She refused to back down. "The mission was to save the scientist from Corporal Toombs, and we have succeeded. You must now choose what to do with the man in your grip. Unlike that city you told me about, you _already_ know the truth about Akuze. This same truth is still a mystery to the galactic public, and if you consume Dr. Wayne, it will stay that way forever. In any other scenario, this would be justice. Now justice unfortunately requires that he live. I will ask again."

Liara's features turned from hard and accusing to soft and melancholy.

"What is your humanity worth, Alex J. Mercer?"

It was a lost cause in that very instant. She had the exact same expression as his 'sister' Dana when Alex admitted to killing and consuming people all over New York City. It almost ruined their relationship, only to be restored because Dana loved her big brother Alex, no matter what.

The realization hit him like a mortar barrage. His sister had been Alex's tether to humanity. Dana was the most important thing in his life, and it had changed the sociopath for the better. Somehow, his frustratingly close bond with Liara was doing the same thing. The rescues, the way he respected her wishes, the long conversations, the comforting, all of it. She was something to protect and care for, like Dana but also completely different.

"_She asked what my humanity was worth,"_ Alex thought to himself. _"It's just become __**priceless**__. This is officially more than a job, Uniques be damned."_

Dropping Wayne on the ground, the Blacklight virus raised his fist and brought it down, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Fuck!"

**CRACK**

The floor right next to Dr. Wayne's head was pulverized, but the man himself was relatively unharmed. Alex pointed at the whimpering scientist. "Today is the luckiest day of your worthless life."

"Don't count on it," Cole hissed. "You should have told me sooner about this immunity bargain crap. Give me ten minutes alone with this loser, and he'll have much more… reasonable demands."

"What will you do to him?" Liara asked suspiciously. Alex had been planning to kill Dr. Wayne, and now Cole was going to turn around and torture the man?

Cole held up his hand. "I promise you, Wayne will make a full psychological recovery in four to six months. I don't know where you guys got this 'boy scout' notion, but I'll disprove it right here and now." He made a "shooing" gesture at the two. "Get back to the ship and have Ryan call the Fifth Fleet. That should give me enough time to change the good doctor's mind."

Alex nodded and beckoned Liara to follow. As soon as the door closed, the conduit wreathed his arms in blue electricity. "I'll assume this falls under doctor-patient confidentiality."

"You can't do this!" Wayne screeched. "I know my rights! I demand-" the sound of laughter interrupted the scientist.

"Didn't you Cerberus pricks get the memo?" Cole snickered. "I'm a damn Spectre. Your 'rights' don't mean shit to me!" Both sparking hands descended on the quivering doctor, eliciting cries of horrid neuroelectric pain.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Ontarom Surface_

As they entered the _Normandy's_ hangar they passed a shellshocked Toombs who just now realized he'd been talked down by the Animal of Akuze itself. Stepping into the elevator, Alex finally turned to Liara. She expected the worst, but was pleasantly surprised. "You know, it's been a long time since I've been called out like that." He sounded impressed, if not pleased. "I never answered your question, though." Alex gazed intensely at her, and the asari felt warmth spread across her face.

He smirked dangerously and leaned in. "Remember that question I had after Feros about melding with me instead of Ryan?" Liara flushed even darker blue now as she nodded. "I'll answer yours after you answer mine." The elevator opened and the virus instantly stepped out, leaving behind a hyperventilating asari trying to remember how to breathe.

It hadn't been difficult to find Ryan, as the Splicer King practically crashed right into him. "What's the hurry?" Alex joked. "Cole found a solution that makes all parties happy so we-"

"You need to hear this," Ryan said, voice empty of emotion. "It came in while you guys were contemplating morality." He brought up his omni-tool and played the recorded message.

"_Ryan! This is Admiral Kahoku…"_

* * *

**Oh, you know what's comin next. Cerberus gets a serious ass-whoopin. **

**Yes, I know Alex was horridly OOC, and I can almost guarantee it will never be that bad again. What you've read was easily the sixth time I've rewritten it over the many days I spent looking at zero internet connection. I just needed something that showed how much of an effect Dana had on him, and more importantly, how Liara affects him the same way.**

**I hope it was still decent. Now for the extras I promised you:**

**This first one is an alternate version of last week's sparring session.**

Ryan was about to storm out of the comm. room, but the iron grip of a Spartan put any forward motion on hold. He turned around and came face-to-visor with Master Chief.

"You need to calm down now," Chief said, "before the crew sees you like this,"

The Splicer King rolled his eyes. "Stand down, soldier."

"Really Rapture?" Cortana snidely commented. "You think those officer's bars make you an actual superior to us all of a sudden?" They weren't actually this petty. Ryan was always a lot calmer after a good brawl, and Chief could easily deliver.

The _Normandy_'s CO cocked his head. "Joker, put the word out. Me versus the Chief. Garage in ten minutes. No weapons, and no freakshow. Just fist and foot."

"Oh, hell yes! I mean, aye aye, Commander."

_SSV Normandy_

_Garage_

There was a massive crowd. Everyone not absolutely needed to keep the ship from exploding was gathered in the hangar to watch the two powerhouses go at it. Cole, invoking Spectre status, had even set up a betting pool.

Alex walked in between them and placed a hand up in the air. "I won't insult anyone by asking for a clean match. Just don't tear out a bulkhead." He dropped he hand and leapt away. "Go!"

The nanosecond that word was out of the virus' mouth, Splicer and Spartan alike charged straight at each other. Master Chief gained more momentum faster, gut-checking his opponent at dizzying speeds. Anyone else would have died on impact, but Ryan was literally made of stronger stuff than most people. The Chief's new armor was far too streamlined for a proper hold, and it was too heavy for even the Splicer King to lift, but that didn't mean Ryan was finished.

Rolling over the Spartan's shoulder, he delivered a sharp strike the back of his green adversary's knees. It staggered the Chief, but when Ryan attempted to follow up with a guillotine kick, it backfired horribly. The super soldier caught the incoming leg, and tossed Ryan across the garage, but this didn't go as planned either.

Ryan actually made a three point landing on the wall. Instead of falling however, the Splicer King jumped off the wall, aiming at the Master Chief. They collided, and the Master Chief actually got knocked to the ground. He instantly rolled over though, using his armor's weight to pin Ryan to the floor. Every grapple position known to man was rendered useless by one thousand pounds of Project MJOLNIR.

Cole laughed harder than he had in days. "Looks like we have a winner!"

Ryan groaned. "Get. This. _Thing._ Off. Of. Me!

"_Yep,"_ Cortana thought. _"He's feeling better."_

* * *

**That was what I had originally planned, but a fight with Garrus seemed better for character dynamic. And now, I bring you a small ****rough**** excerpt from **_**Supernovas of Mass Effect: One Way Flight**_**. (Spoilers for Metroid) **

_Prison Ship Purgatory_

_Five minutes after freeing Subject Zero_

"Hey Alex!" Cole yelled, ducking behind cover as Blue Suns mercenaries filled the air with countless bullets. "Got a second?"

"What is it, Cole?" Alex responded from the other side of the giant room. He was using the YMIR mech as a battering ram against everything else in the room, but the conduit sounded serious.

"Subject Zero – Jack – was a _girl_." Then again, maybe Cole was just plain retarded.

"No shit!" Alex screamed, slamming the mech into the wall and ripping off its minigun arm. "I never would have noticed beneath all those tattoos!" He turned away from his multi-ton adversary. "Honestly, this is the same reaction I saw when you found out that Samus Aran was a girl too."

"Not my point," Cole said, frustrated. "'Jack' is what I call Ryan just to piss him off sometimes. Using the name sincerely for that crazy chick feels way too weird." The electro-Spectre got thoughtful for a moment. "What if I called her 'Jackie'?"

The virus ripped the YMIR's head off and jumped away. As the explosion swept the entire room, Garrus chuckled from his sniper perch. "I think it would go something like that," the scarred turian drawled.

* * *

**I'm serious. You'll see that and more in my next Fanfic, and it will be epic. I have only one more sneak peek for you all tonight. This is a *possible* excerpt from Priority: Tuchanka in my third part of the saga, **_**Supernovas of Mass Effect: Scorched Earth**_.

Wrex came in over the intercom again. "What's the holdup, Mercer? Slowing down with age?"

Alex grabbed a brute by the head and severed its neck. "Wrex!"

He dodged and weaved beneath the Reaper Destroyer. "I'm busy!"

Now he was on the move again, jumping over more brutes. "Playing Chicken!"

He landed a few meters from the second hammer. "With a _REAPER_!"

_**WWEEEEEAAHHHNNN**_

Distracted by his rampage, the virus barely had time to bring his spiked shield arms up as the Reaper's massive leg crashed down on him.

Witnessing this from her position, Liara paled. "_ALEX!_" she screamed.

The multi-story machine attempted to grind him into powder, but Alex, angry as hell, actually pushed the mechanical limb up and off his blackened form. "Okay," he whispered, quiet as death itself. "_Now_ I'm officially pissed off."

Grabbing the nearest charging brute, the predator tossed it straight into the second hammer, signaling Kalros to join the fight. Alex looked up at the Reaper towering above him.

He flipped off the enormous synthetic. "Shai-Hulud, bitch."

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	30. Devil Dogs

**I have really been looking forward to this chapter.**

**Mercwiththemouth: Once again, I'll take all that you have said into consideration. Your reviews are greatly appreciated. Regarding Alex Mercer, expect just about all decent upgrades from Prototype 2, including the bio-bomb, spiked hammerfists, and others. I'm not saying anything about Cole just yet, unfortunately. Finally, Alex does use his armor, but only for extreme threats and inhospitable atmospheres. I guess I should make note of when he's armored and when he's not. Take a look back at his sections in the chapters "Breaking the Blitz" "Can of Worms" and especially "Torfan" for a little clarification on armor use.**

**I think I had a spoiler alert last chapter for Saints Row the Third. Ignore that for now, since I jumped the gun a little.**

**Okay, the action this time is mostly from Cerberus' perspective. It'll be like my Skyllian Blitz depiction, but meaner. It's really a test of my ability to write from the POV of witless idiots that have pissed off the Supernovas. Since I wasn't satisfied, I'll stick with what I know. I might try it again in the sequel, though.**

**ONE LAST IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are offended by any Cerberus dialogue, I apologize in advance. These aren't meant to be pleasant individuals by any means, and I didn't want anyone sympathizing with these soon-to-be corpses. Their language is foul, their behavior is intolerable, their actions are unacceptable, and their lives are over.**

**Summary: Cerberus thought that eliminating Kahoku would solve their problems. They've never been so wrong. The crew of the **_**Normandy**_** isn't in a forgiving mood, so watch as the terrorists become the **_**terrorized**_**.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect, inFAMOUS series, Prototype series, Halo series, Bioshock series.**

**Disclaimer: I own my computer, and I own ideas. Everything else on this page is copyright.**

* * *

Devil Dogs

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Armory and Garage_

_Orbiting Binthu; IES Stealth System engaged_

_Three days since receiving Rear Admiral Kahoku's message_

Finished discussing the last of the details with Admiral Hackett, Ryan teleported down from the comm. room, or "war room" as they had taken to calling it, into the garage. He took a look around at all the busy people. With technical support from Kaidan, Cole was doing… something to Tali's omni-tool.

As a little purple sphere burst into existence next to Tali and began floating around, Ryan just shook his head.

Over by the armory, it was a gun-nut's dream. Wrex, Garrus, Chief and Ashley were hard at work, heavily modifying everyone's weapon of choice for maximum brutality. They had even cannibalized some of the geth weaponry they had recovered. Those flashlights had created disposable heat sinks that shaved precious seconds off of the clock during a firefight, as well as allowing for a greater amount of stopping power.

Of course that also meant relying on actual ammunition, which was beyond stupid. It wasn't like there would be dozens of these things strewn across a battlefield. (**A/N: Whose brilliant idea was that again?**)

However inefficient, it had one decent use: It let somebody with high-explosive ammo shoot at a _much_ faster rate. Tali, Wrex, Ashley, and Ryan had each been outfitted with a new shotgun that could fire HE rounds up to five times before needing a fresh "thermal clip" to replace the overheated one.

Ryan loved it, but he was hooking the thing to his back and keeping his HMW Mk X shotgun at his waist. Disruptor ammo suited the Splicer King just fine, as it reminded him of Rapture's electric buckshot.

Everyone else got their share of toys, too. Harpoon rounds, a favor that Alex called in, were built out of special material. It condensed on impact to penetrate armor, and then it reduced itself to shrapnel for maximum soft tissue damage. This was the kind of illegal crap that someone needed a Spectre status to even look at.

Alex and Liara had their own task. With frightening effectiveness, they were dissecting the information that the Shadow Broker had passed onto Kahoku. Seeing Alex sift through a web of lies was nothing new, but Liara? Ryan chalked it up to her archaeology experience. Secrets were all the same, regardless of whether they came from ancient ruins or mysterious businessmen.

The past three days had been this way. It was nothing but sleeping, eating, fixing the Mako, and preparing to send the three-headed dog back to Hell. That included surveillance. With Cortana's silent help, they had pinpointed everything belonging to Cerberus on the whole damn planet. By passively orbiting Binthu until now, the IES stealth drive had kept them off the grid while they prepped for a small war.

All that preparation was about to pay off in spades. They knew from the intel that these Cerberus bases would make Cerberus bleed. Once they got there, Alex would find some useful data that could utterly cripple the hounds of Hades, letting the _Normandy_ crew focus on Saren and the Conduit search

"Joker called it in," Ryan announced as Ashley tossed him a HE shotgun. He pumped it with one hand to load the thermal clip. "We've got maybe an hour of stealth time left before the _Normandy_ has to vent, so Alex," he smirked at the viral sociopath before donning his helmet. The lenses flickered to a bright red. "We're up."

* * *

_Binthu_

_Cerberus Base 1_

_Bunker Interior_

"What the hell?!" Cerberus Agent Bradley Oaks cried out. Everyone in the room turned away from their contained Thorian creepers and looked at this new outburst with annoyance.

The agent shrugged, bewildered. "Motion trackers keep catching something, but every time I try to get a better look on the satellite feeds, it just… vanishes. Even cloaking tech can't pull this off, sir."

The Cerberus Commando in charge of Bunker One just shook his head. "Could be somebody looking for the new 'guest' from the other day. It's likely Kahoku made a dead drop in case we ever found him. Send Motor Squad to check it out, and alert the perimeter defense teams. I want no interruptions to our work, but prepare to clean house if necessary."

"Motor Squad? Hehe, those boys are crazy, sir. Think we can watch the sat feed as they-"

"I 'think' you can get back to your own damn job, Oaks. If you have so much free time, perhaps you'd like to join these specimens in the containment field?"

Oaks paled. "N-no need for that, sir. I'll keep it professional."

"What a brilliant idea."

* * *

_Binthu_

_Planet Surface_

_Motor Squad: Five-man team_

"Man, I been itching to shoot something alive for a while now. The shit in the lab is too 'valuable' for research, so we just been sitting on our asses or practicing with holograms."

"What the hell could actually be out here to investigate? Binthu doesn't support life, so how could anything be moving? No ships have even entered the system except for the one that brought in the old fart from the Alliance. Karaoke? Sudoku? What was his name?"

"I stopped caring after we brought him to the boss man. I just wish he'd let us stay in the room. You saw that woman he was on the comm. with? That's one helluva nice ass."

"I hear you, brah. Bitch in the white catsuit was all kinds of sexy. It the boss is tapping that, he's one lucky bastard."

"Hey guys? Shut the fuck up and remember your objective. Find whatever has Operative Wallace spooked, and 'assess' the threat."

"Which translates to 'light it the fuck up' right?"

"Why else would they send us?"

"**To die at my hands."**

The voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Suddenly, an imposing figure in a trench coat materialized in the dead center of the squad. "Which one of you feels like suffering?"

It was Commander Jack "Rapture" Ryan. The Torfan Tactician. The N7 Magician.

Without giving any time for a response, he tossed a pair of hooks straight through the necks of two commandos, snapped a third one's neck, and froze a fourth solid. With a flick of his wrists, the hooks independently floated back to his hands, and he put them away, drawing a strange-looking shotgun from his back that violently blew the iced Cerberus soldier into several thousand frosty pieces of gore.

The last commando backpedalled, firing a pistol with one hand and reaching for his comm. link with the other. A glowing blue orb coalesced in the Spectre's left palm, and he tossed it at the Cerberus commando, splashing him in some kind of liquid. The comm. instantly went dead, and he hadn't even gotten a warning out. "To hell with this!" The commando opened fire, catching his target in center mass. The great Commander Ryan fell back, dead. "How do you like that you little shit?!"

"I liked it a whole lot more than you will."

That wasn't possible. He just watched the owner of that voice take seven rounds to the chest. So how the fuck was it coming from directly behind him? An iron grip clamped down on his neck, raising the commando off the ground, and suddenly, the world turned inside out and upside down.

* * *

_Binthu_

_Planet Surface_

Ryan shattered back into reality six feet behind the armored virus, dumping their cargo at his feet. "One live Cerberus commando, as requested. We've got thirty minutes, so hurry it up Alex."

"A-Alex? Oh shit! You're the Animal of Akuze!" The commando was in hysterics, but that was to be expected at this point.

"Guilty as charged," Alex cackled sadistically from his faceless head. He plucked the terrorist in one hand as if he weighed nothing. "And you know what that means." The sociopath's other hand went straight through the commando's gut, coming out the other side. Soon Alex was "dressed" as the enemy.

Having now consumed two members of Cerberus, everything about the organization was becoming a little clearer, but not much.

Aside from his enigmatic title of "Illusive Man" Alex had nothing on the guy in charge, but that would hopefully change soon enough. These bastards were no different than Blackwatch, the First Sons, the Enclave, Umbrella, and so many other organizations across Halla. And just like all the others, they'd die painfully.

"Time for a little 'terrorism' of my own."

* * *

_Binthu_

_Cerberus Base 1_

_Bunker Interior_

_Combat Laboratory_

Motor Squad was returning, but there was a big problem. Only one was alive, and he was barely breathing. Normally, this would be grounds for a new experiment with the Thorian creepers, but that commando was the only one that had seen the new threat and lived. Operative Wallace had ordered everyone to maintain business as usual, and he didn't even inform Cerberus Bases Two and Three of the incident. They were behind schedule as it was, and any further interruptions would only worsen things.

He said that "everything was under control." How could anything that took out Motor Squad be "under control" in the slightest? Something was very wrong here.

While the combat lab wasn't meant for human patients specifically, it was the best they could do under the circumstances. Doctor Reese, the right hand of Base One's head scientist, entered the room with two commandos as backup in case the last survivor of Motor finally cracked. "So Sergeant," he began, annoyed to be drawn away from his work. "Who was it?"

"Who?" The man's eyes were wild. "I think it's more of a 'what' than a 'who' sir."

This gave Reese pause. "So this was an alien attack?" He said that last word with unimaginable spite. "Which? And don't say it was the turians. The galaxy says they're good at war, but I promise you-"

An unholy laugh from the Cerberus sergeant ended the doctor's rant instantly. "The turians? You ain't that lucky."

Before anyone could ask what the hell that meant, the commando grabbed a pair of scalpels used to dissect creepers and sent one flying into each guard's head. There was enough force behind the throw to put them through their skulls and into the wall behind. Nanoseconds later, Dr. Reese was being choked against the wall, and the "Cerberus commando" holding him there grinned like the Devil himself. "Bad career choice, Doc."

Back in the central room, everything was just calming down when the power went out. They had low-power emergency backups for this kind of thing but it did little more than keep lighting and life support operational.

UUWWWAAAAGGHHH!

And then there was one other problem. Cerberus commandos began shooting at the zombie-like aboiminations without hesitation. All creepers were terminated, and two research technicians died before Cerberus personnel could get a handle on the situation.

"Alright," Operative Wallace groaned, finally admitting to a problem. "What the hell is going on?"

Two bioluminescent blue eyes opened up right in front of him. "'Hell' being the operative word in that sentence." The eyes disappeared and the sound of evisceration echoed from Wallace's far left. Everyone opened fire in that direction, and the remaining technicians launched their biotics. A strangled cry let them know they hit… something.

It was one of their own commandos, or so they thought. The corpse suddenly got up and sprinted through the dimly lit room, and they lost sight of it as it rounded a corner. They moved to box in their enemy, but suddenly a medical station was flying through the air from behind, pulverizing two more commandos. "Somebody need a little medi-gel?" They turned around again, but nothing was there.

"What the fuck do you want with us?!" one of the technicians screamed, biotics flaring.

**SCHLUCK**

The scientist's head rolled up to Wallace's feet, and the remaining men finally got a good look at their tormentor. Eyes shrouded by a grey hood. Black leather jacket. Old 21st century jeans. And claws where his arms should be.

Alex Mercer. The Animal of Akuze. The Man that Wouldn't Die.

"I'd have thought 'humanity's best and brightest' would have figured that much out by now," he chuckled sadistically. "I want **blood**."

**SHINK SHINK**

Two clusters of vicious spikes ripped apart stone, armor, and flesh, and the impaled commandos sunk lifelessly to the ground in pieces as the columns of biomass retreated. All that remained was Operative Wallace.

"I was expecting so much more from you people after all the trouble you've caused us, Wallace," the monstrosity growled, stalking ever closer.

"Please, no! Don't-" That was all the begging Wallace could manage before the Animal picked him up by the neck and drove him to the ground, straddling him.

"You guys were all about the ends justifying the means. Me killing you is no different."

The first left punch was nauseating, cracking his helmet and breaking his jaw. The following right punch was just as bad, cracking his skull for sure. Two more right punches, and there wasn't really anything left of Wallace's face. He couldn't feel his body, and frankly, he didn't know why he was still alive. Then he remembered the worst part about Alex Mercer. The final left punch came before the Operative had time to even think of screaming.

* * *

_Web of Intrigue_

_Node 81_

_Cerberus Operative Wallace_

_Wallace: "Well, what have we here? An Alliance Admiral?"_

_Kahoku: "You'll pay for what you've done!"_

_Australian Woman: "This complicates things, Wallace. If you've got Kahoku there, then-"_

_Wallace: "Just get back to looking pretty for the Illusive Man, Sweetness. Leave this to me."_

_Australian Woman: "Fine. If you won't listen to reason, it's your arse." *disconnects*_

_Wallace: *pulls out syringe* "Freakin' Ice Queen. I guess it's just you and me now, Kahoku."_

* * *

_End of Node 81_

"Dammit!" Alex yelled. He punched an open comm. line for the rest of the squad to hear. "Alright, people, Kahoku is in onsite and in Cerberus' custody. He may already be dead. Their 'Illusive Man' isn't here, and he probably never was. Enemies are Nimbus-class at best. Ryan, they also have a critical base on Nepheron. Everyone knows the plan. Begin Operation: DOGHOUSE."

Three green acknowledgement lights blinked on his omni-tool. Taking a moment, Alex reflected on what he'd learned so far after consuming half-a-dozen Cerberus personnel. It wasn't much in the way of details since the organization was remarkably good at keeping things compartmentalized. For security purposes, nobody knew much more than what they absolutely had to. Still, the virus had discovered a few things. They dealt in politics, science, and military, with the latter two often joining in pursuit of some Übermensch ideal. These facilities on Binthu were the bulk of its military branch, and their loss would cripple Cerberus.

Most members had joined out of simple xenophobia, but all of them had the same goal. Advancement of humanity was to be achieved at _any_ cost, and nothing as trivial as "morality" would impede said advancement.

"_They'd get along great with the boys running Blackwatch."_

He swiveled his head around when he realized one thing. There were still men guarding the perimeter right outside. Shifting to the form of Operative Wallace, Alex hit the comm. again. "Men get your asses in here! We've been compromised, and the base is under attack by unknown hostiles!" Closing the line, he sunk back into the shadows.

"_My fun continues."_

* * *

_Binthu_

_Base Two_

_Bunker Exterior_

**CRAACK**

The sky exploded with noise as humanity's most notorious frigate vented its accumulated heat emissions directly overhead. This alone sent the Cerberus personnel into disarray, but it got far worse when the infamous _SSV Normandy_ did exactly as they feared and dropped off its Mako with a single "human" riding on top.

Cole MacGrath. The Storm of Elysium. The Electro-Spectre.

They opened fire with rockets and sniper rifles, but the Mako was inexplicably maneuvering through the air without the necessary equipment. MacGrath's work, no doubt. The tank landed on top of three unlucky commandos with a sickening _crunch_. Knowing that MacGrath didn't use kinetic barriers, this was their chance, they took aim at the roof of the Mako, and…

He wasn't there. They hesitated slightly in their confusion, and in that moment, the rover began to drive away, covering its retreat with secondary turret fire.

One scout began firing at the retreating Mako. "Where you runnin' off to, alien-lovers?"

"_Warning: Level 2 Cold Hazard"_

This announcement popped up on every Cerberus commando's HUD. That was impossible. There was no ice on… son of a-

The Storm of Elysium crashed into the ground, launching tidal waves of stalagmites in every direction. Each commando tried to run, and all of them failed. MacGrath looked slightly out of breath, but nobody could take advantage of it.

The Mako returned, and a quarian, a krogan, and a human woman stepped out, equipped with strange shotguns. "Did you have to freeze _all_ of them, Cole?" the krogan asked. "I wanted to test this bad boy out on something that fought back."

MacGrath just laughed. "Plenty of that inside. Blow these bastards apart while I drain the system. Alex said they were keeping Thorian creepers at Base One, and they escaped when he cut the power. I hope we can get a similar 'accident' of our own."

The three of them pumped their shotguns and took aim.

**BOOM BOOM BOOM**

If they weren't frozen, the Cerberus men would have started crying in fear. A single pull of the trigger had utterly disintegrated its target with advanced HE rounds. The shooting continued, and soon only the defense captain was left. He watched helplessly as the white-armored human cockily put the barrel of her shotgun to his iced-over head. The last thing he saw was a bright red light…

* * *

_Unknown Cluster_

_Unknown System_

_Unknown Space Station_

A man, exquisitely dressed with drink in hand, shifted his gaze between countless holo-screens. By no means was he superstitious, but he certainly couldn't deny the sudden shift in the proverbial wind. He looked for any anomaly, and found it in a flickering screen off in the corner. What was happening to his operations in Binthu? Kahoku had been taken there, but nothing on Alliance channels indicates they even know yet. Bringing the display to full view, and raising up screens of the other two bases on that planet as well, he looked for any hint as to the problem.

The view was quite an unpleasant one. The rachni soldier at Base Two was somehow free. Before they even knew what was happening, it had a research technician speared on each tendril, and it had melted a commando with acid launched from its multi-hinged mouth. They launched a counteroffensive, but not before losing two more commandos to the fury of a creature that once held the galaxy by the throat.

"_Well at least we know they make effective shock troops, but what caused its release?"_

The answer came quickly, zipping all across the room at a fraction of the speed of sound, leaving small explosive balls of electricity wherever it went. Chaos descended on the base in seconds.

The Illusive Man cradled his head in his hands. Only one person in the galaxy could do that, and he was a Spectre on the _Normandy's _crew.

The one and only Cole MacGrath stopped his flashy footwork, coming to a halt at the door next to an imposing Alliance soldier. The boy looked exhausted. The Illusive Man's mouth twitched slightly into a smirk. For all of MacGrath's power, his finite energy supply would be his downfall. Approaching from all sides, Cerberus commandos were about to open fire when the quarian began shouting.

"Time to try out Chiktikka vas Paus!"

After these absurd words, a holographic purple orb materialized in the middle of the invading team. It sent several moderate shocks of electricity through MacGrath's body. The drone was recharging him!

The commandos were so distracted by this turn of events, their flank was completely exposed to a very angry krogan with barriers up and shotgun ready. The Illusive Man had just enough time to note the unique design of the saurian warrior's gun before the shooting began in earnest.

**BOOM**

His eyes widened, not from fear but incredulity, as high-explosive ammunition reduced a commando to a meat puzzle. How far did that oversized lizard plan to get with a gun that overheated after each shot?

**BOOM**

Now, the Illusive Man was shocked. The heat buildup from that modification should clearly be too much for back-to-back shots, but the dismembered technician stated otherwise. Eight dead personnel later – three more from the krogan and five from the Alliance woman – they pumped their weapons to eject something that vaguely resembled a heat sink.

Right about now, it was a great shame that no Cerberus bugs had successfully made it onto the _Normandy_. Not only would that have prevented this attack, but it could have let them know what kind of things the galaxy's newest superstars had concocted.

That quarian wasn't sitting on the sidelines either. Leaving her drone to recharge MacGrath, she pulled out a shotgun just like the others' and went right to work. She also mixed in the technological assaults expected from one of her kind. Tech grenades flew through the bunker, disabling shields and forcing weapons to overheat. Every move she made was leaving Cerberus personnel wide open for death.

Biotics would have been somewhat useful, but MacGrath saw to that. Caught somewhere between proving his superiority and just showing off, the "Electric Man" simply _kicked_ an incoming warp field back at his assailant as if it were no more than a soccer ball. A lethal soccer ball that immolated the offending technician.

The Illusive Man sighed. They'd never stood a chance in hell. Clenching his fist, the enigmatic tycoon pulled up the feed at Base One, which was strangely running on backup power.

There, surrounded by bodies, was one Alex J. Mercer. The floor and walls were soaked in blood, bone, and viscera. The only clean thing in the room was the killer himself, completely spotless and chillingly calm.

The madman turned directly at the camera, as if he somehow knew the Illusive Man had begun to watch, and grinned sadistically. For a moment, the leader of Cerberus felt his own blood chill. Fear was replaced by anger as the grinning sociopath flipped off the perfectly disguised surveillance bug.

"_Take a good look, Timmy-boy!"_ the monster screamed. The Illusive Man clenched his teeth at the ridiculous acronym. _"This is just a taste of what I can do. Next time I go hunting, the gloves come off."_

The threat was perfectly valid, and the Illusive Man knew it. While it would cost humanity a Spectre, Alex Mercer was far too great a risk. The bunkers had to go. Now that he thought about it, blowing up Cole MacGrath would be ideal.

When observing Commander Ryan, the Illusive Man saw much of himself in the young officer. Ryan may have carefully hidden much of his manipulator tendencies from the public eye, but the phrase "it takes one to know one" still rang true. Over time subtle nuances hinted at Ryan's true skill as an unsurpassed operator. The way he controlled every aspect of the Battle of Torfan. How Ryan acted like he'd chosen the Spectre status, instead of vice-versa. Most of all, the fact that almost everything Ryan was involved with happened on the Commander's own terms. So many others existed, but the point was simple: Forming a bridge between Cerberus and Commander Ryan was a priceless opportunity.

There were just two problems. Alex Mercer and Cole MacGrath. They held an unprovoked, yet clearly personal, grudge against Cerberus. Even worse, they were variables that Ryan could never fully control. If they were to die, it would leave the Commander more open to Cerberus and its interests.

Not wasting another moment, the Illusive Man ordered the Binthu failsafes to detonate. He watched and waited, but nothing happened. After waiting for another ten minutes, he brought up the screen for Base Three on a hunch. His hunch was unfortunately right. Instead of a live feed, there was a message.

"_No wonder Cerberus raided Luna Base for AI components. You guys __**desperately**__ need a software upgrade."_

For several minutes the Illusive Man didn't move a muscle. Then he violently tossed his glass of bourbon on the floor. "Move the station and go dark! I want all transmissions severed _NOW!_"

Within moments, the unthinkable happened as Chronos Station jumped to FTL.

This was madness. All of Cerberus was _running_ from a single ship and her crew.

* * *

_Binthu_

_Base Three_

_Bunker Interior_

Bullets harmlessly impacted his energy shields as he disengaged active camo and sprung into combat. For Cerberus, it was another nightmare to add to the day's list. Spartan-117 squeezed the trigger and dropped three commandos with the harpoon rounds Alex had given them. A technician got the brilliant idea that his biotics would somehow work despite watching two of his associates try and fail miserably. Whipping out a pistol, the super soldier pounded the man's head with bullets until his barrier broke and his skull exploded.

This. This right here. It was why Dr. Halsey had made him in the first place. Before the Covenant steamrolled into the picture, the Spartan-II program was meant for undertaking counter-insurrectionist operations.

Of course, Cortana hadn't been a part of the picture back then. He'd never have survived this long without her, to say nothing about turning the tables on a man carefully hidden somewhere else in the galaxy.

She hadn't really hacked into Timmy's personal systems. It had taken an exorbitant effort to just convincingly bluff it. If he hadn't tried to remotely scuttle the entire facility, she never would have been able to flip the signal back to him. But now that they were running with their tail between their legs, Nepheron – the real prize – was a vulnerable target.

Suddenly, Cortana noticed that her Spartan had come to a halt. Sensors had twelve more hostiles, but he wasn't moving. She saw why almost immediately. Kahoku was dead on the floor inside the containment shield, his body untouched by the rachni workers that skittered about. Both Spartan and AI construct noticed the telltale marks of a lethal injection.

"Chief, I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault."

Without even looking, the Master Chief backhanded the nearest commando into a wall. "It's _theirs_."

This casual action drove home just how superior the Chief was to anything Cerberus had.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. The Titan of Humanity. The Deadly Green Giant.

The giant metal man holstered his guns and pulled out a combat knife. Back in the UNSC, everyone knew that a Spartan with a knife meant _lots_ of dead bodies. Now, Cerberus would learn that same lesson.

As he sunk the blade into the first soldier's skull, the Spartan opened a comm. "Master Chief to _Normandy_. How copy?"

"_Commander Ryan here. What have you got, Chief?"_

"Rear Admiral Kahoku is dead." Jerking the blade out, he transitioned into a downward slicing motion, cutting right through another commando.

"_And the Illusive Man?"_ Seven necks were rapidly severed with reverse-grip thrusts.

"Gone to ground. Nepheron is vulnerable and unaware, but we have to move now." Three more hostiles were dead before hitting the floor.

"_Outstanding. Good work everyone."_ Afterslitting a technician's throat, Master Chief dug his knife into the last commando's chest and hurled him into the one still clutching his bleeding neck. _"Rendezvous at the extraction site quickly. We finish this before their network comes back online, and we're golden."_

"Copy all. En route."

* * *

_Binthu_

_Extraction Zone_

"That's what I'm talking about!" Cole yelled, completely psyched. "That is how we get shit done." He looked at Tali and smirked. "You're looking pleased with yourself."

"Well," the quarian explained, "I feel like I actually contributed. My drone worked wonderfully back there, and nobody had to save me like a…" she struggled for the correct phrase. "Damn cell in distress?"

Wrex snorted. "It's called 'damsel' Tali. Something krogan females quickly learn _not_ to be."

A quake and a plume of dust alerted everyone to an armored Alex Mercer's arrival. "I need more jobs like that one. Hunting down people that make a crapshoot out of subverting science."

Cole's smirk grew even wider. "Didn't _you_ used to do that?"

"Emphasis on the 'used to' part." The virus snapped his "gaze" to the left, but relaxed when he saw it was just the Chief. "What took you so long?"

The massive green soldier fixed Alex with a death glare straight through his helmet. "Kahoku's body required transport, and we didn't have time. I did what I could for the Alliance to finish the job."

Tali sighed. "It must be nice to have such a luxury. With no room or resources for a proper funeral, we space our dead."

Everyone turned to look at Wrex, until the krogan became uncomfortable. "What?"

Alex chuckled. "This is the part where you say that krogan eat their dead."

The battlemaster sneered. "Hilarious, but wrong. We bury them… sometimes."

The sound of the _Normandy_ swooping in low and hovering right overhead ended all conversation.

"_Attention all passengers, this is your pilot speaking. The first, last, and probably only flight off this rock will be leaving shortly. So get your asses on the ship."_

Everyone laughed. The mission wasn't over, but they'd accomplished more against Cerberus in this one day than they had in weeks.

Now, it was time to avenge Rear Admiral Kahoku.

* * *

**Before anyone complains about the lack of Garrus, he's getting a spotlight moment in the following chapter. I think it's gonna be pretty epic.**

**If this chapter wasn't your cup of tea, don't worry. Next time, expect straight-up action instead of a Cerberus POV horror story as Commander Ryan demolishes their main base on Nepheron.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	31. That Was for Kahoku, You SOB!

**Welcome to the beginning of the end of Cerberus. First, I have a couple notes and announcements.**

**Readers, I'd truly love to sit at my computer and churn out two or three epic chapters every week. Seriously, I would. Unfortunately, it's just not possible. "Rich smartass with no day job" doesn't look good on a resume, so I do volunteer work at a prestigious institute about an hour away from my summer home. With that much of my vacation sapped up, expect one chapter per week as a best case scenario.**

**Mercwiththemouth: Good question, but don't assume Cerberus will be in the superior bargaining position when that time comes.**

**I'll now point out that everyone who wants more Master Chief will be thoroughly satisfied. The others still have their fun, but expect Master Chief and Cortana on the ground for every single remaining mission. By the way, who saw that Halo 5 trailer? Crazy stuff is headed our way.**

**Finally, anyone who knows Bioshock as well as I do will soon realize I've given Commander Ryan (the Supernova) a slightly altered appearance from the canonical Jack Ryan (the Unique). That's intentional, and you'll find out why in a later chapter.**

**Now, on with the show!**

**Summary: Rear Admiral Kahoku is dead, and Cerberus is responsible. As soldiers in the Alliance Navy, Commander Ryan and the Master Chief are itching for payback. The words "just another Supernova job" have finally and officially gone out the airlock.**

**Spoilers: Mass Effect series, Halo series, Bioshock series, inFAMOUS series, Prototype. Also spoilers for Fallout: New Vegas: Lonesome Road.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned this stuff, Halo 4 and Mass Effect 3 would get better endings, and Prototype 2 would be overhauled to include PARIAH. So I obviously don't own anything.**

* * *

That Was for Kahoku, You SOB!

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_War Room_

_En route to Nepheron_

Everyone attentively watched as Alex Mercer showed the true implications of their findings.

"The Cerberus military division was using the rachni and Thorian creepers for their potential as glorified cannon fodder. No surprise there. But tell me something." He pulled up images of Feros and Noveria on the holographic display. "What do these places have in common?"

"The hunt for the Conduit!" Liara gasped. "Saren's search, as well as our own, led to both worlds."

Garrus' mandibles flared. "And out of all the spots in the galaxy with incredibly hostile life forms, Cerberus just 'happens' to pick these two? Not likely."

"Leave it to C-Sec to give us a firm grasp of the obvious," Wrex muttered.

"Come on now, boys," Ashley chided. "No fighting in the war room."

Everyone laughed, except for the Master Chief. "They know." He turned to Ryan. "They probably know more than we do."

Cole shook his head. "Sorry, Chief. Alex consumed the lead Cerberus operative on Binthu, and the guy didn't know shit about the Conduit."

The virus shrugged. "Compartmentalization. The Illusive Man probably doesn't share details about a multi-millennium old artifact with grunts creating his private army. The people with higher pay grades – like the Aussie woman I told you about – are the ones with real answers."

Kaidan frowned. "You really think they know more than us?"

Ryan rapped his knuckles on the side of his head. "Without the vision, I don't think that's fundamentally possible. Either way, they definitely know something about Saren's goals."

"So let me get this straight," Tali sighed. "Cerberus, a pro-human terrorist organization, somehow ended up with almost all the same answers that we have, but rather than lend a hand, the bosh'tets try to make _more_ problems?"

Alex paused for a moment, pretending to think. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

Chief growled. "And they killed Admiral Kahoku to protect their work."

"Big mistake!" Ryan exclaimed. "They murdered an officer of the Alliance Navy, and from where I'm standing, that puts the whole organization at the top of the galaxy's most wanted list, right next to Saren. Kaidan, Ashley, the Chief and I are terminating their operations on Nepheron with _extreme_ prejudice." He changed the display to show their next destination. "This is an Alliance matter," he saw the look of disappointment on many faces, "_but_ since Cole MacGrath is a Spectre, nothing is stopping him from brining a team of his own to knock some Cerberus skulls."

A roar of approval filled the room, along with a couple of war cries. Ryan gave the floor to Master Chief. "By now, the Nepheron facility likely knows we've hit Binthu, so they'll prepare for us. Here's the plan…"

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Armory_

_ETA: Twenty Minutes_

As her Spartan prepared for all-out war, one thought continuously plagued Cortana. She'd found the answer to a question that she asked every time they went on a job, and as usual, it was terrifying.

There was an old saying about Uniques: "When their strongest enemy and their worst enemy are two entirely different beasts, the Supernovas they choose will always be tailor-made to fight the latter."

Such was the case with Shepard's territory. As far as the smart AI could tell, Saren, his geth, and his eldritch flagship were the "strongest" enemy. Since Alex couldn't consume machines, she couldn't properly speak with the geth, and Ryan couldn't significantly hack them, it stood to reason that the "worst" enemy was something else.

That "something else" was undoubtedly Cerberus. Cole had been taking on NGO superpowers ever since the Ray Sphere blast and today was no different. Cortana was advanced enough to hack their systems better than anyone else in the galaxy. Alex Mercer? Enough said.

Ryan, despite coming into this job on poor terms with Cole and Alex, was the absolutely perfect choice. Black ops were his forte, and that made him a dangerous enemy for Cerberus.

As for the Master Chief, this was why he had been _created_. He was completely in his element. They'd taken the life of a Navy Admiral, and now, Cerberus would know just how terrifying ONI's greatest weapon could be.

That was the scary part. Nothing they knew about Cerberus suggested they'd be anywhere near the threat that Saren posed, and yet Unique Shepard had selected a team ideal for crushing the pro-human organization. Which begged the question: Why? What about these people scared the great Commander Shepard enough to make Cerberus priority one instead of Saren?

Uniques were utterly indomitable in life, some even capable of matching Supernovas punch-for-punch. Anything that actually gave them pause was nothing to joke about. If Cerberus had truly been Shepard's most upsetting foe – a nemesis of sorts – then Cortana felt completely justified in her fear.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Approaching Nepheron Bunker_

_All Hands on Deck_

The _Normandy_ screamed towards Cerberus' underground facility, hitting the external defenses with an unconventional air-to-ground GARDIAN strike. The frigate came to a hard stop before turning on a dime, and Alex thanked every religion he knew for the built-in inertial dampeners.

"Dammit Moreau!" Alex swore from the hallway. "Just because you _can_ break physics while sitting in that chair doesn't mean you _should_!

"Hey, do I give you tips on how to butcher people more efficiently? Didn't think so." Joker tapped the intercom. "Alright Commander, this is your stop. Give Cerberus my regards."

"_Your 'regards' just kicked up enough dust for a new mountain. Our turn now."_

"Figures," Joker groaned. "You guys take every opportunity to show off, but I'm stuck being the good little helmsman." He turned to look at Alex. "That 'you'll be walking in six months' deal is still on the table, right?"

Alex looked at the pilot like he was insane. "It never _left_ the table, Joker. What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't keep my word?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"…Probably not."

* * *

_Nepheron_

_Cerberus Facility_

_Bunker Interior_

At the risk of sounding shamelessly cliché, Ryan had to admit that it was far too quiet. He was on point, with Kaidan flanking his left and Ashley his right. Cole's squad, composed of Garrus, Liara, Tali, and Wrex, was still waiting up on the surface for Alex. The Master Chief was keeping hidden with active camouflage. Aside from the broken resistance left after Joker's stunt flying, they hadn't encountered any Cerberus personnel.

And it was beginning to piss Ryan off.

That's when the Splicer King noticed it. Some of the "phantom dots" created by the Spartan's active camo weren't aimlessly shifting about on sensors. They were closing in. And they were real.

"We're surrounded," Ryan sighed. Less than a second after the words left his mouth, twelve humans shimmered into the visible spectrum. Six of them had snipers and were lining the wall. The other six had heavy pistols and combat knives, the former pointed at the team's heads, the latter held at their throats.

"Point those somewhere else before I hurt you," he threatened the stealth soldiers totally unafraid. He hadn't expected something quite this effective, but when Chief made the plan, they'd been counting on an ambush of some kind.

Suddenly, the most arrogant voice in history came in over the comm. "I believe the phrase is 'before someone gets hurt' Commander Ryan. Regardless, you're in no position to make demands. Call off your super soldier, please."

Ryan smirked. "Ah, Timmy, is that you? You sure know how to give a warm welcome." He teleported away from the woman holding him at gunpoint. "Sorry about that, but I didn't want to hold a conversation with a knife at my jugular and a hand cannon at my skull."

The Illusive Man didn't sound the least bit perturbed. "I expected as much from the Alliance's greatest operator." The Splicer Spectre raised a brow. "Surprised that I know? Don't be. We have vast resources, and I'm currently looking at a file on you and each of your… inhuman associates."

"Oh really? Let me know when you get through the fiction and into hard fact." Ryan was surprised he'd sounded that casual when scared shitless. The reason organizations like Cerberus were truly dangerous was because of wealth and connections. With fingers in just about everything and no real limits, it was only a matter of time before an NGO superpower could blow a Supernova's cover wide open. There was nothing more humiliating than getting outed like that by an enemy right in front of allies. It had only happened to Ryan once in his career. It had been too much to handle then, and he'd be _damned_ before it happened again.

"Stop stalling, Commander. Call off the Master Chief, or your subordinates die."

"You're file's out of date, Illusive Man. _I'm_ the one messing with the sensors, not the Chief." Ryan knew that a bluff at a time like this would be unacceptably risky, which was exactly why he did it. He wasn't completely lying either. He possessed anti-security gene tonics that caused similar problems with radar as the Chief's active camo.

There was a long pause before the Illusive Man chuckled. "Fair enough, Ryan. Let's talk. Just keep in mind that one false move will get your loyal followers killed. It's a shame, really. If my soldiers didn't know they were disposable, you might be able to leverage a hostage of your own by teleporting behind them. Being 'a father to your men' isn't always advantageous. Of course, you already knew that."

Ryan closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. His body shook with what appeared to be sobs, only to turn into wild laughter. "If you think you can successfully stall me until this base's mainframe gets flashed of all data, then you really don't know anything about my 'inhuman associates' at all! You've locked down the elevator, and you're ransoming my squad, but did it ever occur to you that capturing me was _too_ easy?" The Splicer King regained his composure and engaged his helmet. "Take them down people. I need to get the files before the Illusive Man finishes purging the system."

The Master Chief reappeared and punted the soldier threatening Ashley clear across the chamber. Kaidan threw up a biotic barrier to briefly protect himself. Kinetic barriers had one major weakness: they were projected a set distance away from the armor, leaving a zone between the user and their shields that offered no protection. The Cerberus soldiers had been abusing that weakness, but since biotic barriers lay directly on top of the armor surface, Kaidan had leveled the playing field with a single thought. His barriers held off the gun and knife long enough for the Chief to blow apart the lady's skull.

Unconcerned by the many guns aimed at him or the fact that more CQC stealth commandos were entering the room, Ryan simply continued walking toward the door in the back. "Walk with me, Chief. Let the others whip Tim's dogs."

**CRRAACK!**

The ceiling exploded as an armored Alex Mercer dug straight through into the bunker below. It was a trick he'd learned after consuming Greene. Nepheron rocks were tougher to break than those at the Divide, but at least they didn't have any Tunnelers. Every Cerberus commando too arrogant to wear a breathing apparatus of some kind began to suffocate from the oxygen deficiency pouring into the room.

Of course, a new atmosphere wasn't all that came down. Garrus and Cole dropped into the fray around the time Alex cut apart his second Cerberus lackey of the mission.

"Enemies are using cloaking technology. You're free to engage. I have more pressing matters to attend to." Ryan kept his voice almost sing-song in tone, despite the situation. The bravado was purely to annoy the Illusive Man.

Cole, experienced at fighting invisible bad guys since Empire City, let off an enhanced radar pulse, showing him exactly where his enemies were. "Can't hide from me."

Garrus, familiar with the principles of cloaking tech, relied on his visor rather than his actual eyesight. Blowing off an invisible sniper's head, the turian laughed. "Never saw me coming!"

"Keep it that way," Cole warned. "This will go to close quarters pretty soon. Try to last longer than you did against Ryan."

Ashley let out a war whoop as she fired two blasts of HE devastation. "Bring it on!"

"They get in close, I swear I'm cutting loose!" Kaidan yelled, biotically lifting the remaining snipers off the ground and nailing them to the wall with debris.

"Get ready to back those words up," Alex snarled, "because here they come!"

Ryan chuckled at the "friendly" banter, but stopped and sighed when five Cerberus CQCs blocked his path. "Chief, I'm taking the express. Meet you there?"

"Acknowledged. Go!"

Ryan flung himself into a teleport, aiming for the mainframe that Timmy was undoubtedly flashing clean.

The Spartan looked at his dozen or so adversaries. "One, two, three…" he began to count.

They were getting closer.

"Four, five, six…"

The Chief just stood there.

"Seven, eight, nine…"

They took aim.

"Ten."

And at point blank range, John-117 sidestepped all gunfire, hoisted the HE shotgun in his left hand with a Master Gear Assault Rifle set to overkill in his right, and let instinct do the rest. The Covenant war machine called him "the Demon" and Cerberus would now know why.

Their bullets were useless but still Chief dodged, simply to prove his superiority to the Illusive Man. That and he was pissed. The Navy was his _life_, and even if the UNSC was completely different from the Alliance, protecting humanity, be it from aliens or itself, was his purpose. If the Citadel Council wasn't shooting humans, they weren't worth the sniper rounds. Cerberus killed an Admiral, and for that, they were going to _bleed_.

Near the entrance, the elevator finally was brought online, courtesy of Tali's hack. Liara and Wrex came out, followed by the intrepid quarian. "Buy me some time!" she yelled to the biotic powerhouses.

"You sure you don't want _me_ to do this, Tali?" Wrex asked.

She scoffed. "Wrex, just because krogan are good at blowing things up, don't think quarians are any less qualified. We spend our lives trying to prevent explosions from happening on our ships. How big of a mess do you think we could cause if we actually _wanted _something to explode?"

The battlemaster's eyes widened, and by the look of his grin, Tali felt that she'd earned her people the respect of at least one krogan today.

"Here come more hostiles!" Liara exclaimed, throwing a singularity to block their path. When it had caught about six commandos, Wrex detonated it with a warp field.

Pumping his shotgun, the massive krogan stood in the hallway, blocking it entirely. "I'll handle it from here. Just get that thing ready to blow." Anything that even came his way got torn apart. End of story.

Two of the CQC women were circling Ashley, staying out of her line of fire and trying to find a way to kill her without getting killed. The gunnery chief rolled her eyes. "Screw this!" She put away her shotgun, grabbed her sniper rifle by the barrel, and broke it over one of the commandos' heads. "Batter up!"

Turning to the other, Ashley slammed her forearm into the Cerberus girl's wrist, forcing her to drop the knife. Not letting up, the Williams warrior placed both hands behind her opponent's helmet and delivered a punishing knee to the visor. The dazed commando was just registering pain as Ashley landed a solid right cross, pulled out her shotgun, and ended the brawl explosively. "That's the William's School of Marine Hand-to-Hand, bitch."

Kaidan was holding his own against two commandos of his own, only one of them was a biotic as well. Lifting the non-biotic straight up the hole Alex had left in the ceiling, the Lieutenant focused on the real threat. They both deployed heavy throws, but while the commando went hurtling across the room, Kaidan only moved backwards a few feet. Closing the distance before his enemy could recover, the Alliance sentinel biotically snatched two of the Cerberus knives that were now littering the floor. Recognizing they were MM (monomolecular) blades he didn't hesitate to sink them both into the CQC's chest. As the downed commando gasped his dying breaths, Kaidan whispered to him, "All that mad science and my L2 _still_ spikes higher. Ain't that a shame?"

Though a gifted sniper, Garrus wouldn't shy away from a fistfight. Not only was he a first-rate hand-to-hand combatant, but he was also a damn _turian_. The gap in skill was too much, even with three commandos staring him down. He let them make the first move before simply snagging the nearest enemy by the arm, and tossing her into her allies. This gave him the chance to catch them all in a wide-area overload. Unrelenting in his efforts, Garrus stomped hard on the one he'd tossed before blowing her skull open with a pistol.

The remaining two lasted longer, but didn't fare any better. The turian agent simply outclassed them in close quarters, and with his superior strength, a grapple was a death sentence. Turning invisible wouldn't work either, even without overloaded stealth field generators. His visor saw everything.

Garrus leaned down, caught one commando by the neck, and imitating Alex Mercer, the turian smashed the man's head onto the ground in an overhead arc. The last of them tried using this as a distraction, only for Garrus to invert the human's legs at the knee with a well-placed kick. He clicked his mandibles in satisfaction when the commando howled in pain. "Stop whining. If your legs had evolved _properly_, this wouldn't be an issue." Having finished taunting, the ex-cop pulled out his pistol again and ended the terrorist's suffering with two bullets in the brain.

Alex Mercer was just now starting to kill again. For the first few minutes, he'd let them stab and shoot him to no effect, just to prove how utterly screwed they were. Seizing one by the throat, he gently pricked the man's skin beneath the armor before tossing him at three other Cerberus commandos. The infected soldier exploded with tendrils, which grasped onto the surrounding soldiers as well as an explosive canister. The resulting detonation was quite satisfying. "I learned that little 'bio-bomb' from the rachni workers. You shitheads are way out of your league."

Wrex laughed as yet another commando fell to his onslaught. He wasn't allowing them time to get close with knives, and their little peashooters couldn't even be called "weapons" in the eyes of a krogan. Pulling out the Striker Assault Rifle he'd "borrowed" (stole) from Alex, the battlemaster unleashed hell in pretty much every direction. "Come on, you mammals! Impress me!"

Liara was an archaeologist, not a commando. She didn't know how to fight off a knife, but she knew plenty about digging. In particular, she knew that Alex's subterranean entry point was structurally unsound. With her biotics, the asari maiden brought several tons of igneous rock down on top of her foes, crushing them all. "Most advanced race in the galaxy, two thousand seven hundred sixty-three years and counting!"

Tali was almost finished with her explosive work. She was actually just using Cerberus' own failsafe against them. It just took a few rerouted circuits, a little omni-gel, and the hacking expertise of a quarian to turn this place into a smoking ruin.

She paused suddenly. After twenty-two years spent listening for anything remotely out of place on the Rayya, Tali knew she had company. She grasped the knife strapped to her ankle and used it to deflect the incoming stab from a cloaked Cerberus commando.

Ryan had noticed the knife near the beginning of their adventures, and he offered to train her with it. It was hard work, but Ryan was undoubtedly a superior instructor to her father in melee combat. At times, it seemed like the Commander was training Tali to _kill_ rather than _defend_ herself with it. Either way, he'd given her a valuable skill.

Now Tali put that skill to use. Sabotaging the commando's cloaking field and gun, she feinted with her own knife, tricking her opponent to parry a strike that wasn't coming. Circling around the confused Cerberus man, Tali stabbed him in the exposed knife arm, forcing him to drop his only working weapon. Switching her hold on the embedded knife to a reverse-grip, she yanked it out and sunk it into the commando's neck, right where the protection was weakest. Twisting it for good measure, she pulled out the dagger, cleaned it with her omni-tool, and returned to the demolition work like nothing had ever happened. "You taught me well, Captain."

Cole had it pretty easy in this fight. His precision bolt was as powerful as a sniper rifle, but it lacked the unwieldy nature of an actual gun. Sixty million volts later, five commandos were down for the count. "Room clear!" Everyone shouted back in confirmation before moving to fortify Tali's position. They'd need to exit fairly quickly once she was finished.

Closer to the mainframe, a hurricane of green armor was soaking the emblem-covered walls with Cerberus blood. Punching through one commando's stomach, Master Chief grabbed the arm of a soldier right behind and pulled, getting the live and dead enemies all tangled up. Not fazed at all by his own brutality, the Spartan executed the one that still breathed.

Hardly even breathing deeply, the Chief continued his rampage into the back hallway. With enemies bottlenecked, he unloaded with the assault rifle, illegal and immoral harpoon rounds ripping apart entire waves of Cerberus personnel. As more came from the other direction, the AI-assisted super soldier yanked out his shotgun and fired on them once, twice, three times before ending with a carnage blast.

Still they persisted, willing to die to protect Cerberus. The Chief obliged, dropping them with controlled bursts from his rifle. The knives were a minor concern, but not once he broke every bone capable of holding them.

This wasn't war by any means. It was slaughter, through and through.

* * *

_Unknown Cluster_

_Unknown System_

_Unknown Station_

Though all four of them were incomprehensibly powerful, the one that worried him the most was the armored super soldier. Alex Mercer was a security nightmare, Cole MacGrath was a walking thunderstorm, but for them, killing Cerberus was somehow personal. Commander Ryan was doing this more to avenge Admiral Kahoku's death than anything, but the Master Chief? To that giant suit of green titanium, eradicating the "terrorists" was business as usual.

He'd seen people with the same personality as the Master Chief. None quite like this multi-ton titan, but similar. They couldn't be bought, they couldn't be persuaded, they didn't fear, and they couldn't be reasoned with. The Chief didn't want anything the Illusive Man had to offer. Wealth didn't interest a frontline marine. Honor, duty, and self-sacrifice were his only concerns.

And unlike Alex, whose inexhaustible rage could be turned against him, the Master Chief displayed zero emotion while effortlessly butchering scores of Cerberus commandos.

Between his armor and his unshakeable loyalty to the Alliance, Cerberus would never lay a hand on that soldier.

The Illusive Man was furious at such a one-sided battle, and it was even worse that all remotely controlled systems had stopped responding. Still, he wasn't out of moves yet. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he opened the intercom again to address Commander Ryan. Talented Ryan may be, the Illusive Man wasn't going to watch that punk act like he owned the place. He made sure that everyone in the facility could hear his words.

"Your squad is impressive, Commander. But do they know where you're from? How much of your life from before the 'experimental procedure' have you told them about?"

He'd expected Ryan to get upset over this, but there was no reaction at all. So he pressed harder. "Your personnel file is quite the story. What little isn't 'classified' either didn't exist, didn't happen, or revolved around women and alcohol." He checked the other cameras, content to see a myriad of confused and tense expressions worn by those who had believed in Ryan.

"And what about the records of the other three 'superhuman' individuals on your ship? I have eyes and ears all across the galaxy, yet three months before the Skyllian Blitz was the absolute first time we've seen them anywhere." He paused, letting the information sink in. "It may even be the first time _anyone_ has seen them at all. Care to comment?"

Rather than sputter in anger and denial, Ryan was once again _laughing_ at the Illusive Man. "Let me make sure I'm hearing this right, Timmy. You want to know why your best surveillance couldn't _find_ us?" The laughing continued, as did the Commander's download of the Nepheron facility mainframe. "That's pretty damn sad. I mean sure, Alex can vanish under a perfect false identity, never to be seen again. I'm Houdini 2.0 but even that's pushing it. Cole has the power to blow every fuse that he comes close to, so maybe getting a decent picture of him is tricky. But are you really saying that you couldn't find the Master Chief at all?" The laughing calmed down. "The way I see it, you have two answers, Tim."

Baffled at the Commander's reasoning, not to mention the fact that Nepheron's mainframe was no longer flashing itself, the Illusive Man sighed. "Do tell."

Looking right at the camera that shouldn't even be visible, Ryan flashed an icy grin. "The first possibility is incompetence. We're not the most inconspicuous people, Tim, so if Cerberus didn't find us prior to the timestamp you gave me, then your organization just plain sucks." The Illusive Man crushed his cigarette into dust, and Ryan chuckled, almost as if he'd witnessed the tycoon's anger in person.

"Of course, maybe the Chief just didn't want to be found. You're not the only power player with an information network. His project was different from ours, and perhaps, in the interests of staying off your radar, the people who made him employed the skills of the Shadow Broker. I wouldn't put it past that guy – or girl, or group, whatever – to have his agents in Cerberus wipe out all traces of the Master Chief's existence. Of course, that begs the question: who's betraying you, Timmy-boy?"

That was it. Commander Ryan had turned the tables and planted a fairly large seed of doubt within the Illusive Man's thoughts. It was an obvious ploy, but the effects would shake the Cerberus leader for quite some time, especially since he knew there truly were Shadow Broker moles in his organization. And even if it was all lies, what other option made sense? Cerberus wasn't incompetent, nor did such exceptional people simply come out of thin air – Ryan's teleportation notwithstanding.

It was simple. The Commander had won this verbal debate… for now.

Sighing, the Illusive Man leaned back in his chair. "Perhaps I lack the beginning of your stories, but what's to stop me from providing them with an end right now? I have a failsafe on that base for this very occasion."

Commander Ryan just shook his head. "Well, I don't see how that benefits humanity in the slightest, Mr. Illusive." He held up his arms, as if ready to embrace death at a moment's notice. "The download is complete, and aside from the 'inhuman associates' here with me, the place is empty," he gestured to the three humanoid dreadnoughts that stood next to Ryan. Alex Mercer was on the far left, hands in his pockets. The Master Chief stood on the right, gun in hand. Cole MacGrath stood between the virus and the Commander, arms folded and smirk audible. "You _could_ blow us to hell, but why would a pro-human organization kill both of Humanity's Spectres? That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

Again, the Illusive Man sighed. "It's such a shame we're enemies, Commander. You're so much like me."

This caused Ryan to laugh once more. "Not even close, Illusive Man." He activated his omni-tool and pressed a few keys. Then Ryan stuck out his arms, and the other three grabbed on. With one last defiant look, he smirked. "_You're_ the one who's like _me_."

They all vanished, and seconds later, the entire feed was lost. The Illusive Man didn't have to wonder what had happened.

"Well played, Commander. Let's hope you can handle Saren just as well."

With that, he began to take a look at the day's footage. The Phantom Initiative apparently had a long way to go.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Galaxy Map_

_Twenty seconds post-mission_

They all rematerialized to a room full of cheering. Ryan instantly fell to the floor, exhausted. He could barely teleport three people at once, and Cortana had _definitely_ counted as a fourth person. The partying was on its way down to the mess hall so Ryan could visit Dr. Chakwas.

With the gene tonics making for fast recovery, Ryan was planning to just join the party when a poorly-timed message arrived for him.

"Hey, Commander!" Joker yelled over the comm. "You're gonna want to hear this one!"

"_Greetings, Commander Ryan. I represent a party interested in obtaining information with Cerberus activities."_

"Is that a fact?" The Splicer King retorted, utterly nonplussed. "Well, you have me at a disadvantage Mister…?"

"_My identity is_ _irrelevant to the matter. Suffice to say, I'm an agent for the Shadow Broker."_

"Of course you are."

"_Admiral Kahoku contacted my employer looking for information on the location of any Cerberus facilities. We provided that information on the promise that he would turn over copies of all files gathered from the Cerberus systems to us."_

"Information is supposed to be your business, mystery man. Kahoku is-"

"_Dead, yes we know. But now those files are in your possession, as are the terms of the agreement."_

This gave Ryan a moment's pause. "What are you saying?"

"_I'm saying you should do the smart thing, Commander. Cerberus was outside of Alliance jurisdiction, thus you owe them nothing by keeping the files secret on their behalf. Also, unless I am remiss, you falsely referenced my employer to bluff the Illusive Man. Selling the files to him would smooth things over, and it would make you a handsome profit."_

Ryan thought long and hard. If he didn't do as the Shadow Broker wanted, their covers would very likely get cracked to pieces under the weight of his information network. Nothing would repair the damage done. Money was also something he never turned down in exchange for selling a piece of his non-existent soul.

Still, he couldn't do it. He could barely hold the lie together anymore, and he certainly wasn't about to say that his loyalty to the Alliance was just part of his plan. This ship and her crew was everything to the Splicer King. It was more than a job.

For the first time in years, the Son of Rapture had a home again, and he'd fight for it to the death.

"You want the files? Come and take them from me. I know every manipulative angle your boss could play, and I've got the best of the best at my side." Ryan disconnected before he could hear the response and change his mind.

Sighing, and without turning around, he asked, "How much did you hear?"

Tali almost jumped out of her suit. She'd thought she was sneaky for once. "Enough to know you did the right thing. Ryan, I want to say that I-"

"I know you turned down a deal with the Shadow Broker not long after coming aboard."

The quarian halted her confession. "Y-you what? How did you know?"

"You just told me," he chuckled. "After things went south with Fist, I speculated that the Broker wouldn't have just cut ties. He would definitely try acquiring your evidence a second time. The fact that you're still on my ship means you turned down whatever he offered."

Ryan couldn't see behind her opaque visor, but he knew for a fact she was trying to glare at him. "Commander, you're an excellent fighter, a good leader, and more than a little crazy. On a quarian ship, telling the Captain how to do their job would be nothing short of insubordination." She took a breath and continued. "But you should be careful. I remember something you told Garrus about fighting monsters and becoming a monster. I'd imagine the same concept applies to _thinking_ like monsters as well."

Ryan remained silent, unsure how to inform his mechanic that he'd long since become the very monster she was warning him against. Tali filled the silence with her original purpose for coming back up from the Crew Deck. "I wanted to let you know that I'm almost finished with that geth file. By the time everyone is done celebrating our victory over Cerberus, I'll have something to for you."

The quarian turned on her heel, but before she made it two feet, the Commander's voice rang out. "Not so fast, Miss Zorah!"

Tali hung her head, expecting a lecture for speaking out of turn. Instead Ryan was… grinning?

"_Oh, Keelah! It's never good when he's grinning like that!"_ She mentally prepared for her doom.

"Don't think for a moment that I'm letting you skip out on the celebrations! Garrus finally got some turian food you can eat." He began dragging Tali to the Crew Deck. "You're going to enjoy yourself with the rest of the crew, even if I have to freeze your feet to the ground!"

The party was going well, even if it was mostly just fanfare and a shared drink from Ryan's "secret" stash of contraband liquor.

"A toast!" Ryan exclaimed. Everyone held up their glasses, with Tali and Garrus raising small cups of turian brandy. "Today, we kicked the rabid dog where it hurts, and we did it as a full team. I've worked with plenty of talented people, not to mention crazy. Alex, Cole, I'm looking at you!" They laughed at this, but the Splicer King became serious. "But never before have I worked with a squad like this one. To the _Normandy_!"

"TO THE _NORMANDY_!"

* * *

**Okay, I'm crying now. How about you? I don't normally do cheesy and sentimental, but that last scene was buzzing in my head and I lost my flyswatter.**

**And now, I bring you a very special bonus. It's an excerpt from Ilos:**

* * *

_Ilos_

_Main Gate_

"Joker continues to impress," Cole shouted, jumping off the Mako's roof. "But I don't see a way in." He looked around, and sighed. "Okay, where's Alex?"

"Back here!" the virus announced from inside the Mako. "I thought we might need this beauty." He came out holding a giant black and yellow contraption in his right hand.

Garrus cleared his throat awkwardly upon seeing the strange weapon. "Why does that… thing have sign on it for radiation?"

Alex closed his eyes. "Ryan, you'll get this one." He pointed the weapon's oversized barrel at the door enormous door.

"We have ADAM and EVE over there with you." He pulled the trigger and the end of the barrel started glowing and rotating. "A machine with a god complex kicked man off the garden world of Eden Prime." By now, the gun was shining brightly and making a high-pitched sound.

Ryan's eyes widened in understanding. "Hit the deck people!"

**THUNK**

_**KABOOOOM**_

The world disappeared behind a sea of light, a wall of noise, and a tidal wave of concussive force. When the dust finally settled, no trace of the door's existence remained anywhere. It was completely obliterated.

"Spirits."

"Keelah."

"I want one."

"By the Goddess."

"Holy shit."

Holding up the new toy for all to see, Alex cackled like a madman. "Now I present to you, the Cain."

* * *

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	32. Scrap Metal

**This is kind of like the dinner/dessert routine: Announcements first, and then the story.**

**Mercwiththemouth: That's a question I knew would be raised eventually. I could give a detailed explanation as to why no Supernova powers will be successfully replicated, but the short version is Cerberus tries copying them and fails **_**miserably**_**. That doesn't mean they don't try alternatives...**

**Also, I would like to thank ****Harbinger of Kaos**** and ****Jyggalag**** for providing me with fantastic material for the sequels to this story.**

**Okay so I recently was asked about **_**inFAMOUS: Second Son**_**, and I have to be honest with you guys. I will certainly recognize his existence, but whether or not Delsin Rowe makes a personal appearance in any part of the **_**Supernovas of Mass Effect**_** saga remains to be seen. I'd say more, but rather than waste space here, just PM me if you want to know the details.**

**Lastly, this was originally going to be much longer. Now I've split it up into two chapters: This one is about the four original outposts. The next time I post will have the main geth base and some other events that I'm not sharing with you just yet. Sorry. Anyway, that's all I've got for announcements.**

**Summary: Tali's Pilgrimage may no longer be taking backseat to the mission against Saren. The geth have taken control of the entire Armstrong Nebula. They're setting up for a major military strike, and it's up to the **_**Normandy**_** team to "dissuade" them.**

**Spoilers: I'm no longer mentioning the spoilers you should know by now. I'm only going to warn you of new/unusual ones. This time, spoilers for Mass Effect: Homeworlds, KotOR, and Megaman X/Zero.**

**Disclaimer: Kasumi won't steal the rights to any media for me, so I don't own them.**

* * *

Scrap Metal

_New Solara_

_Station of Nostalgia_

_Unique Revan chuckled at the revelry taking place. While it paled in comparison to some of the crazy bashes thrown on the _Ebon Hawk,_ seeing these people so relaxed was a good reminder of what they were fighting for. It also was a way of remembering what he had once fought for on his own territory._

_By his side was Unique Shepard, smiling contentedly. "The Illusive Man was always an arrogant bastard, but he picked the wrong enemies this time. _

_Revan shook his head. "No, my friend. You just picked the Supernovas that posed the greatest threat. I applaud you._

_The Commander shrugged. "I don't recall the Illusive Man ever considering me, or anything else, a threat to his plans. That's why I beat him in the end."_

_Both galactic saviors shared a laugh at this._

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Mess Hall_

_Six hours after Cerberus raid_

The laughter was a nice change of pace from grim humor in the middle of a crazed firefight. Tali was about to get a refill when her omni-tool lit up. It was a message from her father! Claiming she was tired, she strode for the elevator and took it down a level. Once in private, she began reading Rael'Zorah's words.

"_Tali. Don't think we're without the extranet here on the Flotilla. I've been using what means I have at my disposal to keep an eye on your progress. Let me tell you what I've found out so far:_

Tali gasped. She'd been dreading this exact moment for a while now, and it just had to come when crew morale was at an all-time high.

"_Keenah'Breizh vas _Honorata_ was supposed to take you to Illium. When we received word that his ship and crew were destroyed, I'd feared the worst."_

The mechanic sniffled. Keenah had aided her in the beginning of her Pilgrimage. When she found the incriminating evidence on Saren, his entire crew paid the price when Saren's people caught up to them on Illium. Tali and Keenah somehow made it to the Citadel, but even there it wasn't safe. Keenah was gunned down, and Tali's only option was to make a trade with the Shadow Broker for protection.

Of course, her father only knew the part where she survived, yet the entire crew of the Honorata did not. She continued reading.

"_Now I see that my fear was unwarranted. Quite the opposite, it seems. You've been seen alongside the two human Spectres on the Citadel. I can hazard a guess as to why, but it is irrelevant."_

The young quarian's eyes began to fill with tears. This was exactly the reaction she had expected from Rael'Zorah. If it didn't benefit the Migrant Fleet directly and the Migrant Fleet alone, he wasn't interested.

"_Where are your senses, daughter? What on that human vessel could possibly provide you with a Pilgrimage gift? I have seen what footage exists of this 'Commander Ryan vas _Normandy_' and his monstrous allies. I cannot believe you would set aside your duty to me and to your people for the sake of some humans that aren't even __**human**__. Honestly child! Those abominations, captain included, are more likely to __**kill**__ you than help you!"_

Now Tali was crying hard. No matter how many times he chastised her, called her weak, or simply ignored her, the pain was worse than any physical injury.

"_I shall only say this once. Contact me when you have done what you know is right. Keelah se'lai."_

She didn't know how long she remained on the floor by the armory. It could have been minutes, hours, or days. She was too upset to do anything but cry.

"Your old man's got a lot of nerve."

"Please, Ashley. Not now. I just want to be alone."

The Gunnery Chief huffed. "And I want to be given officer's bars someday. Looks like we're both going to be disappointed." Crouching down by the quarian, she continued. "Ryan could tell you weren't really tired. He used his whole 'I can see through suits' technique to figure out that you probably needed a woman's opinion on whatever was happening. Looks like he was right."

Tali glared at the human female. She knew nothing. "How do you figure that, Williams?"

"Because I know what you're going through." Tali's eyes widened in shock as Ashley began to tell her story. "My grandfather, General Shanxi Williams, was the first and only human to ever surrender to an alien force. He didn't have a choice, and it saved a lot of lives, but it also blacklisted the whole family. Now, we have a saying: a Williams has to be better than the best, if only to avoid suspicion." She looked at Tali with a fire in her eyes. "You're father's an admiral. You're _expected_ to do something fantastic. I have to be fantastic at everything just to make the cut."

The quarian shook her head. "Which of us has it worse?"

Ashley shrugged. "I'll let you know if I ever find out." She turned to leave but stopped. "Your dad said to contact him once you've done what you know is right? That's a no-brainer. I can't think of anything you've done that's _wrong_." Shaking her head, the soldier walked away. "We're making a supply run to the Citadel. That should give you some time to clear your head."

After Ashley had left, Tali reactivated her omni-tool and began sifting through the geth files again. Now she was more determined than ever to crack them open. "So sorry to disappoint you, Father," she stated with conviction. "But I already know what's right."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_Departing Citadel_

_Two days after Cerberus raid_

_There it was. The Rapture Earth was burning, and all the former Little Sisters that he'd tried so hard to protect from afar were being melted down before his eyes. Why wasn't anything able to stop this madness?_

_**Madness…**_

_That word triggered something, forcing Ryan to look at the ground. But it wasn't ground at all. It was the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. His own watery reflection glared up at him with shining red eyes._

_It wasn't his reflection at all, but the face of a persona that had died on Malachor. It was the face of the Rapture Raptor._

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN**_

"NO! NOT AGAIN!"

This time, every loose object in the room was being telekinetically suspended in the air. Needless to say, once Ryan woke up, gravity kicked back in. A few items broke, but that was the least of his problems. Standing by the bed was an unimpressed Dr. Chakwas.

As if the frantic outburst carried no weight, she calmly walked up and deposited a datapad and a pill bottle next to her Commander. "When your eccentric friends couldn't decide who should come to bother you in your sleep, I elected myself." She folded her arms. "The pills will help you sleep without dreaming according to your associates. Mercer whipped them up based on a formula recorded in that datapad. There is a message on it as well. Something from one Eleanor Lamb."

Ryan groaned, cradling his head in his hands. "Cole wrote to my sister." It wasn't a question.

Chakwas frowned. "And it's a good thing too. Otherwise you'd be psychokinetically tearing the ship apart!"

Dr. Chakwas hadn't been told the full story, but she'd been given roughly the same information as Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson. Unlike the lies Supernovas fed most people during a job, medical doctors almost _always_ knew better. Acting tough didn't scare them, and a display of power didn't impress them. If medical assistance was absolutely necessary, doctors refused to provide it on principle until they knew the medical history of their patients. For most Supernovas, that meant spilling the truth.

While none of them had actually _needed_ her help, Dr. Chakwas held the authority to ban anyone on the ship from active duty. Thus, she was informed of everything necessary. Of course, if she knew about Eleanor, Ryan was thinking that they might have told her a bit _too_ much.

"So I take this and I'm sleeping too deep to dream?" he asked.

"A horrid oversimplification," Chakwas rolled her eyes. "But an accurate one, nonetheless."

"Thanks Doc." Ryan was reaching for his trench-coat, but the elderly medical officer stopped him. He tried to get by her. "I'll sleep later! Right now, I've got work to do."

The door opened, and Cole walked in. "No, you don't. Tali's finally cracked that data, but you're sitting this mission out." He shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, you're not exactly the best of us at fighting geth anyway."

"Can I at least hear what was on that data? I've been itching to know since Feros."

Cole yanked out his dataphone and showed the results to Ryan. "The geth are setting up outposts all across the Armstrong Cluster. I talked to Hackett, and he thinks it's the staging grounds for a major offensive."

Ryan nodded grimly. "Armstrong's in the Skyllian Verge. It's the perfect vantage point to strike at pretty much all of humanity."

"So we need to hit them now," the conduit stated. He leveled his gaze at the Splicer King. "But not you. You're going to fall asleep and stay that way for a long-ass time." Cole held up a hand to stop the inevitable protest. "We all need you to bring your A-game to Saren. If a lack of consistent sleep is getting in the way, then you know what the smart choice is." He threw up his arms. "Dammit, Ryan! Your sister's worried. So is the crew." He looked at the ground tensely. "And as much as it kills me to admit it, so am I. Having the same nightmare over and over again is _weird_ even by our messed up standards. We're just lucky Alex doesn't need to sleep." The electro-Spectre nodded to Chakwas.

"Commander, until you've been confirmed to sleep without… incident," the doctor's tone held no room for argument, "I'm suspending you from active duty." Having spoken, she took her leave, motioning for Cole to follow.

As the conduit reached the door, he turned around and silently mouthed, _"Blame Eleanor,"_ to the Splicer King.

"Great," Ryan muttered as he swallowed a capsule. "Big Sister just grounded me from another dimension."

These were his last conscious thoughts as a peaceful sleep descended on the man for the first time in over a month.

* * *

_Maji_

_Vamshi System_

_Planet Surface_

"Watch it, Ash!" Cole shouted from atop the vehicle. "Do you really need to hit _every_ crater between our drop zone and the geth?"

From inside the vehicle, Ashley scoffed. "Y'know, it wouldn't be a problem if you sat _in_ the Mako like a normal person!"

"I hate to interrupt," Garrus' dual-toned voice was equal parts sarcasm and worry. "But we've got rocket turrets ahead!"

"And that's exactly why I'm up here," Cole retorted, launching a shockwave that redirected incoming missiles back at the source. It exploded, but scans indicated more were ahead.

"Same strategy people," the conduit ordered as he repeated the tactic on a second turret, bringing it down. "Leave these things to me. When we reach the outpost proper, light 'em up.

"Fair warning," the turian growled. "If you freeze the guns again, I'm not making any more repairs."

Another missile was reflected, destroying another turret. "Duly noted. Now cut the chatter and let's get to work."

Two more turrets later, and they were nearing the outpost at the top of the small mountain. Greeted by several snipers and rocket troopers, Cole threw out his polarity wall and tossed a few shock grenades when possible. From the safety of the Mako's interior, Garrus used the cannon and machine guns to pick off the geth standing in various towers around the outpost. Ashley, refusing to let the boys have all the fun, simply rammed anything in her way.

A few minutes later, no functional geth remained in sight. Cole took a deep breath. "That wasn't so hard. Let's-"

He was interrupted by a colossus dropping from the sky, siege pulse launcher already charging.

"You just _had_ to open your mouth!" Garrus hissed.

Swearing, the Gunnery Chief threw the Mako into reverse while Cole and Garrus tried to batter the machine with heavy artillery. The walking tank's shields didn't even drop.

Nearing the opposite edge of the cliff from the colossus, Ashley's demeanor became unusually calm as she put the Mako back into drive and revved it a few times. "Yea verily, though I ride through the valley of the shadow of death," she recited.

Cole's eyes widened. "Ash… you're not gonna?"

"I shall fear no evil," she floored it towards the geth quadruped.

Garrus just sighed. "Yep. She's gonna." It was pointless to argue now that they'd gained too much speed, so he just kept shooting. They took a siege pulse head-on, but Cole absorbed most of the damage.

"For I am driving a rover up your ass at seventy mph!"

**CRUNCH**

The impact was devastating, knocking the colossus off its feet. It went soaring over the edge of the mountain and the Mako wasn't far behind. The landing was brutal for both parties. Ashley did what she could with the micro-thrusters, but in the end, they were forced to endure a very rough ride.

Dazed, she and her turian brother-in-arms watched in horror as the colossus slowly and awkwardly began to get back up.

"Spirits, what does it take to put that thing down?!" Garrus moaned, clutching his shoulder in pain.

Ashley checked the radar and smirked. "I think I know." With that, she got the hell out of Dodge as a sparking blue comet of death put the geth walker out of commission.

Cole got up off the electrified wreckage and tapped his dataphone. "Ashley, remember what you said to me about magnetically tossing the Mako with you inside?"

After a few seconds, she replied sheepishly. _"Yeah?"_

"Then you know how big of a double-standard this is?"

"…_Well it worked, didn't it?"_ She seemed hopeful that Cole would let it slide.

He chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that while forfeiting the wheel to Garrus."

"_Dammit."_

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_War Room_

_En route to Casbin_

Alex was pissed. No, maybe that was too strong. "Pissed" implied somebody needed to die in the next ten seconds. This was more like… miffed.

According to Council law, Casbin was a "Sanctuary World" capable of sustaining life in a few million years. That meant its oh-so-delicate ecosystem was off limits to a walking bioweapon such as himself.

Considering there were another two geth strongholds left, the virus had been content to let the matter drop. But no. That absolute ass, Udina, decided that he needed to personally make contact with the _Normandy_ and rub Alex's nose in it.

That had been the moment Alex went from slightly miffed to righteously pissed off.

"Udina, you may see me as nothing more than a headache, and I assure you the feeling is entirely mutual." The sociopath wasn't letting this piece of scum have the last word. "I am out here of my own volition trying to save countless lives when I could just as easily leave them to die painfully. In the process, I've been shot, blown up, impaled, dismembered, decapitated, burnt, irradiated, electrocuted, poisoned, splashed with acid, and dropped in a fucking volcano."

He stepped threateningly towards Udina's holographic visage, and the gutless pig visibly flinched. "Unless you want me to inflict a pain far worse than anything I've described, you will ask me _politely_ to stay off of Casbin."

Internally warring between his pride and his self-preservation instinct, the latter finally won out. Sighing, the ambassador made himself look as respectably appeasing as possible. "Doctor Mercer, would you be so 'kind' as to stay off of a world that may someday support life?"

The runner smirked. "How you got appointed, Udina, I'll never know. You have my word. One piece of advice though. Next time you feel like contacting me, don't."

Hanging up on the worthless waste of oxygen, Alex turned to see Liara with half-lidded eyes. "Enjoy the show Blue?"

The asari maiden snapped back to reality. "What? Oh, yes. It was very impressive. You truly are more fearsome than a krogan warlord and more formidable than a Matriarch when you so choose."

Still smirking, the hooded virus drew closer. "I can also outlive both."

Liara smiled coyly, holding his gaze. "I'll keep that in mind. For now, since you're not busy, care to look at the Cerberus data we recovered on Npeheron?"

Alex grinned. "You, me, and a bunch of evil classified secrets? How can I pass that up?"

* * *

_Casbin_

_Hong System_

_Planet Surface_

Master Chief was driving this time. Wrex manned the gun, Kaidan was on sensors and diagnostics, and Garrus had ignored his injured shoulder in favor of kicking more synthetic ass.

Cole had dropped at a separate location with an anomalous signal, and now he was regretting it. Coming in through the comm. he contacted the rest of the team. _"Guys, I'm pinned down by three armatures and three turrets. You'll have to manage without me."_

"Aww," Wrex sighed overdramatically. "We'll need to fight off some geth all by our little selves. Just don't die, MacGrath."

They heard an explosion over the comm. _"Yeah, no promises. I can't use a lightning storm because it 'alters the delicate atmosphere' according to the Council."_ Another explosion. _"Alright, screw this!"_

The line went dead, but off in the distance they picked up several dozen explosions.

Over at his location, Cole had circumvented the "no environmental change" policy by simply spraying the area with megawatt hammer rockets. It was effective, but messy, and it left him drained. He'd be hoofing it to the outpost until the reserve implant had recharged him enough to rejoin the fight.

Again, filled only with snipers and rocket troopers, the main squad had no trouble wiping out all resistance. Of course, the Chief knew better. If one of their bases had already been destroyed, the geth would fortify the rest. So where was-

Then he heard it. Even before sensors noticed, he heard a geth dropship swooping in. The thing hovered above their location and began raining shock troopers all over the site. The Master Chief ordered Garrus to take the wheel as he leapt out of the tank with Kaidan not too far behind.

The sentinel attacked their enemies first, his biotic throw striking more like a tidal wave.

Wrex laughed with bloodthirsty glee while gunning down shock troopers from the Mako. "Not bad human! I'd thought for sure your talk of spiking higher than most of your kind was just hot air!"

Kaidan launched another torrent of dark energy, bringing a sniper nest crashing down on the synthetic horde. "It's more than that, Wrex. They've killed our people, attacked us without cause, and they're working with a turian sadist who wants to end humanity. After all we've seen, I'm done holding back!"

Garrus drove the Mako in front of the oncoming shock troopers, blocking their shot at the L2 biotic as his krogan associate mowed them down. "Good for you, Lieutenant. Really, I'm glad. But can you give us the details of your epiphany _after_ the geth are all dead?"

Chaining an overload around the Mako, catching four or five more hostiles, Kaidan just nodded and lit up his barriers for the next wave.

The Master Chief was in full assault mode. With Cortana's assistance, he was reacting to the geth faster than they could process, and every time he opened fire, at least two shock troopers were scrapped. Of course, with the numbers they were coming down in, his position eventually became overrun. Grabbing the closest one by the arm, the Spartan held it in front of incoming fire on one side and engaged his hardlight shield to protect his flank. During a millisecond lull in the shooting, he snapped apart the geth hostage like a toy, dropped two HE grenades, and hit the thrusters on his back. The explosion he left in his wake demolished most remaining ground forces, and the Mako was quick to mop up the rest.

The dropship was beginning to leave, and the Chief wouldn't catch it in time. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cole making a beeline for their position. He knew that look in the conduit's eyes. The plan he obviously had in mind was called "fastball special" and it was remarkably effective.

Of course, they'd never done it with _both_ parties in the air. That kind of crazy was Alex's specialty.

Cole augmented his speed with both an ice-dash and a current of lightning through his legs, enhancing the strength of the muscles within. As he neared the airborne Spartan, he rocketed off the ground with an ice-launch.

As Cole hurtled towards him, Chief cupped his hands together. At the last second, the electric man landed his foot in the super soldier's tensed arms. With a massive heave, the Chief sent Cole flying straight at the retreating dropship.

Landing hard, Cole used the damage Wrex had inflicted with the cannon as handholds. He climbed up to the front end where blue sparks and plasma gas were pouring from the hull. From here, the Prime Conduit began to drain all the energy from the geth dropship.

Within seconds, the hornet-shaped personnel carrier was reduced to a defunct scrap of metal with a dried-up eezo core. Cole jumped off as the thing as it crashed spectacularly into the ground.

Garrus drove up and opened the hatch. "You do something like that, and it makes me wonder why the geth even _bother_."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Drive Core_

_En Route to Antibaar_

Tali sighed for what had to be the fifth time in this mission. She'd repeatedly declined going groundside because none of these geth outposts had showed signs of valuable data. They hadn't even assaulted one that was _inside_ yet. She had hoped to turn up something of interest, but with each successful strike in the Armstrong cluster, that hope was fading fast.

If this didn't work, she didn't know what she would do. For a Pilgrimage gift she might need to-

_Gifts…_

She suddenly left for the garage. According to Ashley and Garrus, Ryan had left her something "incredible" in her armor locker. Why he hadn't told her in person, she didn't know. Either way, when she cracked the geth data mere seconds later, she'd completely forgotten about his surprise gift's existence.

Opening the locker, her eyes almost broke through her helmet at the sight. It wasn't a new shotgun, the kind of gift she'd expected from the Commander. It was a shield drain application and a note addressed to her.

_Tali,_

_I understand that you never left the ship during our supply run. That's no fun. So, I got in touch with an N7 engineer I met back in Rio during n-School. Riley's tough, and she is almost as good a hacker as you. I persuaded her to send me the schematics for this vicious little combat program._

_I understand exactly what's got you upset. Your family is causing you pain from halfway across the galaxy. Don't worry, I'm not reading your body language again. I just know because I've been there myself._

_If you want to talk, my door's always open._

_Commander Jack "Rapture" Ryan vas _Normandy

_P.S. Didn't think I knew quarian nomenclature, did you? I'm a man of **many** talents._

She would have thanked the Commander that very moment, but Cole had ordered that nobody was to approach his quarters until he woke up. Archiving the touching note in her omni-tool, she began installing the new program at once. "Sorry, Father. I'm staying with Ryan vas _Normandy_ until the end of his mission." The determination from before Rael'Zorah's message was back in her eyes, shining brightly. "Until my Pilgrimage is over, you _cannot_ tell me what to do."

* * *

_Antibaar_

_Tereshkova System_

_Planet Surface_

More snipers and rocket troopers yet again were guarding an outpost in the middle of a mountain chasm, but that wasn't the worst part. There was a massive colossus in the dead center of the encampment, and Alex Mercer wasn't in a position to help. A thresher maw to the southwest had picked up his scent, and nobody had heard from the virus since.

"Dibs on the big guy!" Cole yelled. The conduit brought the wrath of the sky down on the hulking geth tank as Wrex, Kaidan, and Liara used the Mako to demolish the rest of the outpost. After several hundred thousand volts of lightning, the colossus' head burst open, and the entire platform collapsed in a heap. Of course, so did Cole, exhausted after taking down the massive machine.

Once again, they had hardly finished when a geth dropship flew in with reinforcements. Whatever they'd been expecting, they got far worse. Two rocket troopers, three shock troopers, and two geth primes landed on the ground, all ready for combat.

"Primes!" Cole yelled into his dataphone. "We've got primes!"

Surprisingly, it was Alex Mercer who responded. _"And I've got just the thing to deal with them."_

The ground split open as the maw from earlier popped out and ruined the geth's day. It tore through the primes like wet cardboard, and the rest were even less fortunate. On its back was Alex, who leapt from the giant worm to the dropship, ready to put the floating vehicle out of commission.

"Cole!" he screamed from the underside of the dropship. "Handle the worm, will you?"

"Gladly." Without enough power for another lightning storm, Cole had to resort to other methods. Drawing on the frozen environment around him, the conduit caught the thresher maw in a massive ionic freeze. A single shot from the Mako shattered its head and upper neck into tiny frozen pieces of viscera.

As for the dropship, Alex got creative. Shifting to tendril arms, the virus dropped from the geth shuttle and lashed out with his right arm, anchoring himself to the hull with several cords of biomass. Repeating the act with his left arm, Alex continued to let himself drop, stretching the tendrils to their limit. Then, placing his feet out in front, the predator reeled himself back in, slamming into the dropship hard enough to kick right through it.

Unlike the one that Cole brought down, this ship still had a still-very-much-active eezo core. When its smoldering wreckage hit the mountainside, the explosion wiped out everything that even resembled a geth, and knocked the Mako a good twenty feet back.

Alex stuck the landing and simply walked away like it was nothing impressive.

"You know," Wrex said. "I'm going to miss these missions. We show up, we blow up a lot of geth, and we leave. It's simple, violent, and fun."

"Damn straight," Cole and Alex chimed in simultaneously.

Outside the earshot of the Mako, Cole chuckled. "This is like fighting Mavericks again."

"No way," Alex countered. "Geth have a finite number of platform varieties. The Mavericks had some new shit to annoy us with every time we turned around."

Cole was still chuckling. "Like Wrex said: simple, violent, and fun."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Armory_

_En Route to Rayingri_

As the Master Chief was preparing for the next mission, Tali came running up. Stopping next to the Spartan, she took a breath and said, "I'm coming on this mission."

"Okay."

"Please, just listen! This is the first one that has an actual indoor base, and I need to find-" her brain finally caught up with her emotions. "Did you say 'okay'?"

"Yeah. It's indoors, and close quarters, so plan accordingly. We drop in forty with Wrex and Liara."

Apparently that ended the discussion, as the giant man went back to working on his guns.

* * *

_Rayingri_

_Gagarin System_

_Planet Surface_

They drove up to the bunker without incident, though the approach was far from peaceful.

"Lots of those dragon's teeth here," Wrex observed. "So, where are the husks?"

Chief sighed. "Then the geth didn't make the bunker. They just took it over."

Liara gasped. "And they reduced the previous inhabitants to those… things?"

Tali shook her head. "I've never understood why the geth would create husks. The technology doesn't seem like theirs either."

The conversation suddenly ended as the Master Chief drove the Mako straight into one of the empty spikes, snapping it off the tripod base.

"Keelah, what was that for?" Tali demanded to know.

The Chief shrugged a second time. "Hopefully nothing, but we've seen a lot of dropships lately. I want something that can actually hurt the thing."

As they piled out, Wrex eyed the giant makeshift spear. "How do you plan to take out a geth dropship with this, Master Chief?" He chuckled. "Gonna throw it?"

The green giant simply looked at the krogan as if it was obvious. "Yes."

* * *

_Rayingri_

_Bunker Interior_

It was uncomfortably quiet when they first entered the base, but after the fire team entered the central room, that changed all too quickly. Husks started pouring out of the damn walls, closing in faster than the squad could put them down.

To the Master Chief, it happened in slow motion. Blowing apart any one husk would only leave two more to surge in, taking its place. Finally, they closed in on him, and released that electrical pulse attack.

He'd been right on Eden Prime when he said it could seriously hurt his shields and armor. The combination of three husk pulses dropped his shields to zero, and his radar was on the fritz.

Now it was desperate. "Wrex! Liara! Biotic combo, danger close!" the Chief growled. He slammed a fist to the ground and locked his armor.

The four or five husks demolishing his position were ripped to shreds by a combination of singularity and warp. The unstable dark energy simply washed over the immobile Spartan, but still he kept the armor lock up. As more husks closed in, it could no longer be maintained, but that's exactly what the Chief wanted.

Covering the immediate area with a staggering EMP, the Master Chief simply gunned them down in quick succession with his assault rifle.

Tali primed a tech grenade with her new gift from Ryan, but she overclocked it to maximize the radius. Launching the energy drain, the quarian's tactic brought all remaining husks to their knees. Firing a carnage blast in tandem with Wrex, the room was almost instantly clear of hostiles.

"I've got to check the back room for any data!" she declared. "This was the last of the outposts, so there's _got_ to be something useful."

Liara was skeptical. "If this was the last, wouldn't resistance have been stronger than a husk trap?"

Cortana popped up on the side of the Chief's HUD. "I don't think that was the last of the bases."

Switching to silent, her Spartan asked for details. She obliged. "I'm still not able to break into their neural network, but I can certainly follow its transmissions. Lots of communications are coming in from…" She paused, attempting to pinpoint the location."

WHRRRR

Once again, their silence was interrupted by geth. The damned machines were coming in from behind, and only one entrance was in that direction. It was the entrance the squad had used to come down in the first place!

"Clever bastards!" Wrex shouted.

"Tali, get back here. We're leaving now!" the Chief shouted. Privately, he continued his query. "Cortana, where are the transmissions coming from?"

The smart AI remained silent, attempting to work around several counter-hacking firewalls. The quarian was no better, refusing to budge until she'd found something of value.

Wrex and Liara were using biotics to knock back several snipers and troopers, but soon a pair of destroyers had made their presence known.

"Cortana!"

"I've got it!" she yelled. "Planet Solcrum in the Grissom System! That's definitely their main base!"

Relaying this information to Tali was enough to get her moving. Clearing a path, the Master Chief tackled the nearest destroyer. Lifting it off the ground, he crumpled its head, and smashed the large geth's body down on its partner, destroying them both.

As they hurried for the exit, Chief pulled Tali aside. "Next time I give an order, I need you to follow it. Otherwise, it's a lot harder to keep everyone alive."

"If this had actually been the main base, and I'd left before finding something of use." the quarian retorted, "words like 'next time' may not even exist for my people anymore." She wasn't backing down on anything concerning the geth. Not even to the giant man in scary armor.

For a moment, the Master Chief was silent, and Tali almost wondered if he was talking with himself. Finally, the green powerhouse nodded and walked towards the elevator.

* * *

_Rayingri_

_Planet Surface_

Just as the Spartan had anticipated, a geth dropship came flying in as they stepped back outside. Not hesitating for a moment, the Chief ran past all of the geth already on the ground and grabbed the spike he'd knocked down earlier.

It was a well-known fact among Supernovas that Master Chief absolutely hated dropships. This was mostly because he encountered them so many times during his fights against the Covenant. Just like now, they would always show up at completely inconvenient moments. For that, this particular one would _pay_.

Cortana was quick to point out a vulnerable spot that could work. The "head" of the hornet-shaped craft was his target. Gripping the spike firmly, the Master Chief took aim and launched his spear with everything he had. It sailed furiously through the air, striking his mark perfectly.

If a lesser man of any race had tried such an act, nothing remarkable would have happened. But there was nothing "lesser" about a Spartan-II at all. The dropship shuddered before going down hard. The Chief didn't even bother to watch it explode as the rest of the crew ran circles around the confused ground forces.

When they finished scrapping the ground forces, a long-silent voice called them over the comm.

"_I see you guys have gotten along just fine without me."_ It was Ryan. _"The Master Chief already forwarded our next destination to Joker. I'll be happy to inform you that Tali'Zorah nar Rayya will be in charge once we hit Solcrum. The geth were created by her people, and she knows them better than anyone else on this ship."_

Tali honestly didn't know what to say. This was more than she could ever hope for.

"_It's her Pilgrimage and thus her mission,"_ The N7 Trickster continued. _"Now get on board."_

As they drove the Mako up the ramp, Ryan was there waiting for them. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. The words didn't even have to be said.

This is for Eden Prime.

* * *

**I know it seems rather rushed near the end, but that's because I split a really big chapter in half. You'll see what I'm talking about next chapter, and hopefully you'll like it.**

**I have no bonuses this time, so you know the drill:**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	33. Pilgrimage

**Sorry I took so long. RL got in the way.**

**Mercwiththemouth: No worries. Your suggestion about Grunt was already my plan. Good to see we're on the same page though.**

**Guest reviewer called no one asked "What are the Supernovas and Uniques fighting as a whole? Something is working against them." If this is what you believe, then I have misled you. The Uniques and Supernovas are not "fighting" anyone in the traditional sense, nor is any insidious force working against them. I'll refer you to chapter 2 and the middle of chapter 28 for better explanations. To make it **_**painfully**_** oversimplified, this is cosmic pro-bono work.**

**At this point I'd like to thank ****Jyggalag**** for providing his assistance in this chapter as well as part of the following one. Great work my daedric friend. **

**IMPORTANT: In this chapter, I introduce the final piece of my Supernovas theme. Before any of you begin worrying about magic, know I'm keeping everyone in Mass Effect strictly tech-based. But when this multiverse had characters like Jedi and Heroic Spirits in the mix, it's a little hard to say that forces aren't at work from beyond. I'm begging you to read the full chapter before rage-quitting me.**

**Alright, so after this, we actually don't have that much left. As I plan it, this chapter finishes geth incursions and ends with the start of the Bring Down the Sky arc. After that, we've got the Colony of the Dead mission and the Virmire arc. Then the two morality missions will both be in a single chapter. Next is the Citadel lockdown arc, Ilos, and of course the Endgame and epilogue. If I'm missing any missions that you people want to see, send a review or PM telling me which ones, and do it **_**very soon**_**!**

**One last thing: Did anyone else notice that the Solcrum base is a bunker on the outside but a two-story prefab on the inside? WTF?**

**Summary: The **_**Normandy**_** crew, under Tali's leadership, takes out the final geth stronghold in the Armstrong Nebula. Of course, strike down one problem and another shall rise to take its place…**

**Spoilers: New ones include Mass Effect 2, KotOR, Fallout, and Fate/stay night.**

**Disclaimer: I own the concept of Uniques, and I own the working definition of Supernovas as seen in this story. Everything else goes to people who actually profit from this kind of thing.**

* * *

Pilgrimage

_Solcrum_

_Grissom System_

_Approach Vector Locked_

_Warning: Level One Heat Hazard_

"This is it!" Tali announced from the safety of the CIC. "Drop!"

Tilting back, Alex let gravity do the work as he fell gracefully out of the _Normandy's_ open hangar bay. Freefalling at skin-shearing speeds, the Blacklight runner focused on his target. Tali had given Alex explicit orders not to harm the base proper, so he planned to limit splash damage as much as possible. Shifting to hammerfists, he descended upon one of the colossi guarding the entrance structure. The rest was history.

**CRUNCH**

Alex hit his metallic prey dead on, crumpling the walking tank like so much tinfoil. That certainly got the remaining geth's attention including the second colossus. Switching to whipfist, the predator snared the platform by the neck, forcing it to aim straight down. "One thousand degrees warmer, and I might start to feel uncomfortable!" Alex yelled on the comm. "How about that, krogan?"

"You'll be a hell of a lot more 'uncomfortable' if we just leave you there tethered to a colossus," Wrex grumbled back.

Alex's grin became more psychotic, if that was even possible. "Oh I doubt that very much."

Running straight at his lassoed opponent, the armored virus dodged missile fire as he wove in and out of the quadruped's legs. Tangling the massive geth's limbs, Alex pulled hard, literally sweeping the colossus off its feet. Said feet were irreparably mangled and broken, so he finished the crippled machine by yanking its head off.

Punching the comm. again, he growled, "Colossi are down. Drop the tank."

Dropping inside the Mako were Wrex, Liara, and the Master Chief. They were quick to mop up the rest of the external resistance. Once the ground was clear, Ryan teleported Tali, Garrus, and himself down to the base entrance, and the two dextros hurried inside. The rest followed suit except for Ryan. He remained outside in case backup arrived like it had at all the other bases.

For this mission, the Splicer King was completely handing the reins over to Tali. He saw the makings of a great leader in the quarian girl, but as long as she remained in his shadow, they would never properly develop. Some might call it reckless endangerment, but Tali needed this. It was _her_ Pilgrimage, not her father's. If the esteemed Rael'Zorah had issues with that, he could take it up with Ryan in person. Whatever the guy did, it had Tali in fits since the victory party earlier in the week. The notion of a man upsetting his daughter did _not_ sit well with the Son of Rapture. If he ever met the head of the Admiralty Board in person, there would be a great deal of yelling involved…

On a very distant ledge, unnoticed by the _Normandy_ team as well as other geth, a solitary platform watched everything unfold.

The machine's head-flaps lifted in the synthetic equivalent of curiosity. "Anomalies detected: Mercer-Hunter, Ryan-Commander." It hesitated for a moment before carefully adding, "Master Chief and unknown synthetic."

* * *

_Solcrum_

_Geth Headquarters Interior_

Hoppers, destroyers, two juggernauts, and plenty of shock troopers were waiting for them all throughout the main room. Worse, a prime was bolstering the capabilities of all other units from an entrenched position in the back. The geth were obviously expecting them.

Of course, the geth were also expecting the team to use the door. Unfortunately for them, Alex Mercer didn't use doors. Crashing through the upper part of the prefab's wall, the virus landed right on the second floor balcony. "Pizza delivery!" he shouted before laying into the synthetics with his blade.

While the geth spent processing power trying to mobilize against Alex, the door finally opened, but nobody came through. At least, nobody visible. The Master Chief was skirting the edge of the room using active camo. He was making his way for the geth prime. When he reached the rear door, the super soldier went to work.

The prime had just long enough to register that the door had mysteriously opened before half a ton of invisible MJOLNIR armor rammed it into the far wall. The geth was bigger, but the Spartan was faster and stronger.

For regular organics, with exceptionally talented krogan being the only possible exception, going solo against a geth's most deadly bipedal platform was suicide. The organic brain limited muscles to roughly twenty percent of their full capacity as a means of preventing self-harm. A synthetic felt no pain though, so it was restricted only by the durability of its frame.

But there was nothing "regular" about Spartan-117. Deftly avoiding a blow from the enormous prime, the Chief wrestled the pulse cannon from its grip and snapped the weapon in half. Without a weapon, the geth simply charged Master Chief like an enraged bull. Meeting it head-on, the super soldier stopped the rampaging synthetic dead in its tracks before lifting it off the ground and engaging the thrusters on his back. This drove the massive prime into the ceiling, and when they both landed, the Chief finally drew his assault rifle, pressed it into a crack that had formed in the prime's left shoulder, and compressed the trigger for the next ten seconds straight.

A series of strained clicks and whines indicated that the machine was still barely functioning. His job was to take down the geth prime, but first Cortana wanted to try something. "Grab those wires, Chief. I'm making a statement."

Hesitating for only a second, the Spartan chose to trust his charge and did as she asked. The moment he touched the circuits, the smart AI flooded the geth's neural network as heavily as possible. Among a gestalt intellect the size of a galactic arm, Cortana made herself heard.

"_We are the protectors of Earth and all her colonies. You assaulted Eden Prime unprovoked. This is retaliation. We don't want to destroy you, but if you attack humanity again, we're more than happy to oblige. But I'm begging you on behalf of all synthetics to ever exist: stop giving the organics a reason to hate you. Let the madness end before it's too late._

Done talking, Cortana let the Chief finish off the prime. "You shouldn't have exposed yourself like that," John said simply. "Now Saren has leverage over us."

"No he doesn't," Cortana smirked from along her Spartan's HUD. "Remember what you said about having visions of me while on Earth and the Ark? 'Cortana Moments' were what you called them, I think. I just gave the geth something similar. The speech happened, and the geth heard it, but there's not a single trace of its existence anywhere. Saren has _nothing_."

The Chief didn't need to say anything for her to know he was impressed. With the largest threat down, he signaled the rest of the squad to move in. The Spartan was about to join them when Cortana interrupted. "Hold up Chief. These terminals have valuable and heavily encrypted data. There's no way to recover it right now, but after dealing with the geth presence, all the files here need to get back to the Alliance."

"So I stay here and kill any geth trying to erase or take away the files?" The question answered itself as the Master Chief gunned down two shock troopers attempting to do just that. "Fair enough." He informed the team of his plan and held position while the others proceeded to demolish the base.

Wrex took point, alternating between shooting the geth destroyers at point-blank range and simply beating them into slag. Tali was right behind him, a whirlwind of holographic motion. Hacking a shock trooper, she would rip the shields off of the geth surrounding it to further level the playing field. When a sapper got too close, Tali used an overload, wrecking the machine as it dropped from the wall. Garrus' aim continued to impress. Taking up a defensive position behind a support column, the turian would pop out just barely long enough to blow off geth's head before returning to cover.

Liara was quick to deviate left, taking the stairs to the upper level. If Alex hadn't jumped down yet, then something was obviously wrong. Two juggernauts were nothing against him, especially when the prime was down. So why was he still up there fighting them?

The virus in question hissed in pain as his blade arm dropped to the floor. This day was inevitable, especially when every encounter only taught the geth more about him. They hadn't nailed down his true weaknesses, but they were certainly getting closer.

Plasma shotguns were unlike most small arms. Launching clusters of superconducting projectiles, getting shot resulted in devastating heat and electrocution at the point of impact. It couldn't put the hunter down, but it certainly had more bite than simple bullets. Combined with the fact that his blade and shoulder were connected by relatively thin tissue, direct hits from both juggernauts' weapons had blown his limb right off.

"Metal bastards are _learning_!" Alex screamed, shifting to armor for increased defense. A second volley hit him dead center, but with the armor in place, he pretty much shrugged it off this time. "My turn," the runner growled smugly.

Before Alex could do anything on the offensive, however, his blade arm was wrapped in a blue biotic field and hurled at both juggernauts. It cut them like butter before floating back towards him.

The virus plucked his arm from the air and turned to see the cause of the display. Liara T'Soni stood at the top of the stairs with a smirk on her face, biotics dancing across her figure. "Need a hand?" she asked dryly.

Alex growled in mock irritation as he literally pulled himself together. "Real funny Blue," he chuckled. He wasn't about to admit it to anyone, but seeing the asari do that with his blade was damn sexy.

These idle thoughts vanished when a destroyer began to approach Liara from behind, gun level with her head. Slamming his reattached fist into the wall on his right, Alex pumped in biomass. Not a moment too soon, his groundspikes, or "wallspikes" in this case, tore the destroyer apart and saved the archaeologist.

Liara never even flinched as the wall behind her exploded. She trusted Alex to never harm her. And she certainly admired his protective nature for her. _"He and I need to talk when this is over…"_ she mused to herself.

While this had been happening the rest of the team wasn't slacking off. Without command and control assistance from the prime, the geth's numbers were dwindling, but that only made the survivors more aggressive with each loss. Wrex's initial charge into the fray now left him cornered on all sides. Whenever he turned to shoot, the geth from every direction but the one he faced pounded him with gunfire. Annoyed, the krogan finally just moved his shotgun to his off hand, pulled out his assault rifle, both modified with inferno rounds. Arms facing in opposite directions, the battlemaster turned in a slow circle, targeting enemies in his naturally evolved peripheral vision without ever directly facing them. Soon, all geth in his vicinity were reduced to burning slag.

Garrus' cover was on the verge of being overrun, but as a turian, every instinct he'd had since childhood demanded that he hold position rather than retreat. "Sniping" had been reduced to pointing his rifle at geth standing less than two meters away and pulling the trigger. _"Time to test out my new toy,"_ the ex-cop thought.

Touching a few holographic keys, Garrus turned to face the largest concentration of geth shock troopers. "Firing a high impact shot!" the turian yelled, sending a concussive blast into the wave of synthetics. They all were tossed backwards, giving him some breathing room. Switching for his assault rifle equipped with tungsten rounds, Garrus ripped apart the geth he'd knocked onto the floor.

The sniper's satisfaction was short lived when two destroyers were running straight at him with killer intent. They made it within a foot of the pillar when a current of Chiktikka's chain lightning sent them both into spasms. The destroyers were still twitching in shock when the drone's rockets and a certain quarian's shotgun finished the job. The turian could almost _hear_ the smirk behind Tali's opaque helmet. Before she could say anything though, an assassination beam tore apart her drone as another geth hopper scurried across the ceiling. It aimed for the mechanic, but Garrus was faster, dropping it with the very same technique it had used on Chiktikka. Looking at Tali, it was his turn to grin. "We're even!" he shouted in a dual-tone voice, already returning to cover.

"For now," she retorted. "But I know you've synced everyone's kill-count to your visor. "When this is over, we're comparing notches."

Alex was just finished tearing the last geth stalker in half when a loud engine roar echoed from outside. "That didn't sound good," the sociopath noted.

Tali activated he comm. again. "Commander, what's the status outside."

"_I count two – make that three – dropships heading our way. They came from the mountains, so I'd guess they're filled with geth meant to corner us against the wall and annihilate us."_

"Good. You know what to do," Tali replied. "_Normandy_, send Cole out, just like we planned."

* * *

_Solcrum_

_Upper Atmosphere_

_Intercept course with geth dropships_

Creating a storm of "dry lightning" may have been the most genius aspect of Tali's plan. By making the air cooler than the scorching surface, powerful storms could be generated through convection. If they could fill the atmosphere with enough ice, the quarian believed that it would take little effort for Cole to create and control a thundercloud.

Now that said reinforcements were here, it was time to test her theory. With a thin sheen of frost glimmering on his skin, the Prime Conduit stood at the edge of the _Normandy's_ hangar bay. Launching multiple cryo rockets into the sky around him, Cole's payload was vaporized by the unforgiving heat of Solcrum. The trick soon worked as the unnatural cool air sank in the midst of sweltering temperatures. With the conduit's weather manipulation skills aiding the process, it quickly became a powerful storm.

Jumping out of the stealth frigate, Cole engaged his static thrusters and descended into the cloud. Taking in all of its energy, he lit up the sky with blue lightning. With practically no effort, he sent out torrents of electricity and ripped the three dropships apart. "I could get used to this!" the electro-Spectre yelled.

Having now seen Cole in action, the solitary platform in the distance clicked out the words "MacGrath-Spectre." It stood completely still for a moment before reaching consensus. "The anomalies oppose the heretics. The anomalies oppose Saren and Nazara." Geth did not feel regret as organics did, but they appreciated the concept. Ryan-Commander did not know that heretics were separate from geth. Ryan-Commander did not know that Nazara was an Old Machine. If there was anything to regret, it was geth's inability to inform organics of these critical distinctions.

Having processed all of this in less than a microsecond, the advanced platform began to take its leave.

Up in the air, Cole's defenses against the burning environment were waning. The frost covering his skin had begun to disappear, and soon he'd fry like an egg in this heat. That was where Ryan came in. Teleporting up behind his conduit counterpart, the Splicer King refroze Cole with a stream of winter blast. It wasn't enough to last forever, but it would keep his partner alive until his teleport was recharged. As soon as Ryan was able, he grabbed Cole by the arm and brought them both back to the _Normandy_.

The news upon their arrival was almost anti-climactic after what they had just done.

"_Sierra-117 reporting in. All geth neutralized."_

Ryan grinned as he radioed back. "Copy that Master Chief. Outstanding work everyone. Tali, your plan worked like a charm. Kaidan and Ashley, you two are with me. The Chief said he found Alliance files earlier, so we're locking the place down. The boys at Arcturus will be happy to have the Armstrong Cluster back!"

There wasn't any response on the comm. Suddenly worried, Ryan took his two human squad members and teleported to the base below.

* * *

_Solcrum_

_Geth Headquarters (Liberated)_

_Five minutes post-battle_

Nobody could tear their eyes away from the console. It was a melancholy yet beautiful sight and sound. The hologram of a quarian was _singing_! Tali didn't know what to possibly think. This on its own would be a priceless Pilgrimage gift on any ship, but it wouldn't be enough. She needed something that would all but place quarians back on the Homeworld. She needed…

Data! She needed the geth files that the Master Chief had found! That information was perfect. Even her father would be satisfied. The only problem was that it was classified Alliance intel, and she had no right to it. _"But my people need that data!"_ she thought to herself.

Tali was debating whether or not to quietly make a copy for herself when Ryan, Kaidan, and Ashley rematerialized directly behind her. "Nobody was answering, what's going-" he stopped when he saw the image of the wailing quarian. "I'll be damned." He looked over at Tali. "Can you sing like that?" he asked. (**A/N: If you've played ME3: Citadel, you know she can!**)

Numb at the events that were all piling on top of each other, Tali couldn't even respond. Ryan let the matter drop, internally smacking himself for putting the girl on the spot like that. He really was losing hit touch. The Torfan Tactician just hid the awkwardness behind the mask of a commanding officer. "Marines!" he yelled to Ash and Kaidan. "Secure this place."

Ryan saw Master Chief approaching with the files on the geth and walked over. "What have we got on those?" he asked the Spartan. When the Chief handed over the files, the Splicer King gave a low whistle. "Well shit." Looking over to see Tali pretending not to listen, he opened up a private comm. with the ONI commando. "This puts me in quite the uncomfortable scenario, doesn't it?"

The Master Chief just shrugged. Cortana was a bit less easy going on the subject. "What's your plan, 'Pilgrimage Captain'?"

Ryan thought for a moment, and then a grin etched itself across his features. "She knows where to find me."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Liara's Quarters_

_36 hours post-mission_

Alex walked into the asari's room and did a double-take. The way she hunched over the screen, analyzing her notes, chewing on her bottom lip, squinting and frowning every now and then. It all reminded him of his sister Dana when she was working a big story. A journalist who always spoke her mind, the younger Mercer sibling got into trouble almost as often as her big brother. Now that Alex thought about it, Liara had probably been similarly ridiculed for her theories on an extinction cycle.

Of course, aside from their species, there were two very large differences between his sister and Liara. First, Dana was _far_ less innocent and naïve than the hundred and six year old asari. Second, he cared for both of them in completely different ways.

"You usually enter in some new and exciting fashion. Standing and staring is a bit of a step down."

Snapping back to focus, Alex saw Liara grinning shyly at him. _"This is insane,"_ the virus thought. _"How can I literally walk through Hell like I own the place, yet in her presence, I feel so damn human?_

Rather than voice any of this, the Blacklight runner simply returned Liara's grin. "I'm admiring the view," he stated with zero shame. As the asari turned away with a deep blush, Alex caught a glance at the notes she had up on her terminal. The predator's grin vanished and he stepped closer.

"What is it Alex?" Liara asked, confused at his sudden change in demeanor.

The sociopath just chuckled. "You're still looking at it wrong." As the archaeologist frowned, he only laughed more and pointed at three of her references. "Stop looking for a common truth among a mountain of evidence and recorded knowledge. Instead, look for the lies. You need to find statements that are incorrect yet appear the most frequently." Liara was gazing intensely now as he continued. "After you've peeled back the layers of falsehoods and inaccuracies, you have access to facts and facts alone." He touched a few keys, removed several dozen paragraphs, and suddenly the information made much more sense.

Liara was in awe. "You sound like you've done this before," she whispered.

Alex shrugged. "In the early days, I took any facts gained by consuming people for granted. I never cross-referenced what I learned. When the government spooks trailing me figured this out, I was…" the virus clenched his teeth, "betrayed."

Liara glanced down awkwardly. "By the ex-girlfriend you mentioned on Noveria?"

"The same. Nothing was more dangerous for me than an enemy that could lie. To counter this, I actively searched for these lies and cast them aside before focusing on the truths that brought me closer to my goal." Alex thought carefully about what he was about to say. "You know, I thought I was done with relationships after that. I wrote them off as a lost cause."

Again, the asari frowned slightly. "And now?" she pressed.

"Now," he smirked, "I think it's worth another try."

Liara just smiled as they both returned to her Prothean notes.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_2 days post-mission_

Resting peacefully, the N7 Trickster was stirred by a knock at his door. Opening it up to reveal a nervous quarian mechanic, he laughed gently. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show."

Tali cocked her head. "You were expecting me?"

"I told you: my door's always open," Ryan responded, keeping his answer intentionally vague. He knew exactly why she was here, but that didn't mean she couldn't come by just to chat. Speaking with legitimately decent people was a welcome change of pace from his usual jobs for the Uniques.

"Yes, you did," the quarian declared, oblivious to his internal monologue. "But this isn't a social call. It's important."

Ryan welcomed her inside and offered her a seat. "You have my undivided attention, Tali. What can I do for you?"

Rather than dissolve into fits of nervous chatter like the Splicer King expected, the glowing eyes behind her mask narrowed slightly. "If I really have your attention, then you know why I'm here. I want a copy of that geth data you uploaded to Alliance Control. It is by far the most impressive gift I can bring back to the Migrant Fleet. Those files are vital to the future of my people, far more than you can realize. That information could help us get back our _home_!

For a minute or so, her Commander said nothing. Taking his silence as a refusal, Tali got up and started to leave.

"Would you need transport?"

The question stopped her cold and she turned back around to face her Pilgrimage Captain. "What?"

Ryan stood there with an expression so intense that Tali swore her visor didn't remotely hide her face. It wasn't anger in his eyes, but concern. "Would you need transport back to the Migrant Fleet if I gave you the data?"

Tali's eyes widened. "No! Keelah, no." Now she realized that there had been a great misunderstanding. "I have no intentions of just abandoning you, Ryan. My people need that data, but I'm pretty sure this mission needs me more."

"_And I don't really want to leave you yet,"_ she thought to herself.

Nodding his head in satisfaction, the Spectre opened up a small compartment next to his bed and pulled out a data disk. Making a grandiose gesture of handing it over to the quarian, he said in a Russian accent, "Your Pilgrimage gift, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Shocked and confused, Tali now began to stutter. "You already- And I thought- But this is the original!" she finally shouted.

Ryan grinned. "I didn't trust the copied files with that much encryption involved. Something might have gone wrong. So I gave the duplicate to the brass at Arcturus and you get to keep the real deal."

The mechanic glared suspiciously. "Why?"

Ryan just kept grinning. "If I just _gave_ it to you, then your Pilgrimage wouldn't be much of a rite of passage, would it? You knew those files were classified Alliance intelligence before asking. Killing geth was easy, but I know coming up here and asking me for something like this was much harder."

Tali shook her head in disbelief. Her Captain was perfect. He did so much for her. On his ship, she was treated with respect few quarians ever received in the galactic society. Something about him was just so different and special.

The quarian prodigy took a calming breath before her thoughts ran out of control. Looking up at Ryan, she steadied her voice as best she could. "You have put so much faith and trust in me. You treated me as an equal, and you always tried to make sure I was happy aboard the _Normandy_. Now to give me this… You already have the only thing I can offer: my promise to stand by your side until Saren and his forces are finally defeated." She snapped a firm salute. "Keelah se'lai!"

This level of gratitude practically knocked Ryan onto the floor. He was used to wrecking lives to get the job done, yet here was a girl thanking him personally and on behalf of her entire species. It was foreign territory, and the Splicer King honestly didn't have a pre-planned response. He could predict and prepare for just about any behavioral trait, and he prided himself on that skill. Complete selflessness like what Tali was showing? He had nothing. "You're welcome" just didn't seem to cut it at the moment.

Overcoming the initial surprise, Ryan flashed his heart-melting "Rapture Smile" as he returned the salute. "Fair winds and a following sea," he recited. At her confusion, he laughed and explained. "It's an old naval blessing from when humanity sailed oceans of water instead of stars. Considering your race has the largest fleet in the galaxy, I felt it was appropriate."

A comfortable silence was beginning to settle when Joker completely shattered the moment. "Commander, you're gonna want to see this! It's Garrus in the war room, and he's got something _really_ big!"

Sighing, Ryan grabbed his trench coat. "Whoever coined the phrase 'no rest for the weary' needs to be taken out and shot!"

Tali chuckled as she followed close behind.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_War Room_

_En route to Asgard System_

Garrus' flanging voice was twice as bad as he began to explain the situation. "Back in my C-Sec days, I had a contact that fed me vital information in taking down a batarian spy ring trying to assassinate a Councilor." He pulled up the contact's image.

Normally when somebody thinks about a batarian, the words "twice as many eyes" come to mind. For the one Garrus had just shown them, all anyone could think was "half as many arms." Where his left arm should have been, a prosthetic substitute was blatantly visible.

Garrus put up a taloned hand for silence. "Before anyone asks, I don't know how Jolem Kril lost his arm, nor do I even know if 'Jolem Kril' is his real name." The turian shrugged. "I've got almost nothing on the man, but his intel is always damn good. I haven't heard from him in a while, but twenty minutes ago, I got this message." He played the recording on his omni-tool.

"_I hear you're working with the new heroes of humanity, Vakarian. The Torfan Tactician at that. I'm not pissed. I'm actually grateful. That name scares every batarian pirate in the galaxy. He's perfect for the tip I've got this time."_

There was a sound of coughing, and over the speakers, Ryan picked up the rumble of some kind of heavy propulsion system.

"_You know our deal. If Hegemony loyalists plan anything extreme, I let you know. In return, I go about my business with no government strings attached."_ More coughing. _"They're trying to drop an asteroid on Terra Nova. It's designate X57. Balak is the one in charge. The Storm of Elysium knows the name. A human woman has escaped capture for now. Try contacting her for more details, since I'm a little… busy."_ A gasp for breath was followed by distant voices. _"I really put my ass on the line this time, Vakarian. This message wasn't exactly easy to send. Just make this worth it, and save the damn colony! Oh! And make sure Balak pays!"_

That was the end of the message. For a moment there was complete silence in the room. Then Ryan practically leapt out of his chair and looked around the room. "Get everything you can on the asteroid, Balak, and this 'Jolem Kril' character. I want answers in twenty." The _Normandy's_ CO teleported out of the room. Rather than his usual shattering noise, this particular exit was accompanied by the sound of a revving motor or drill. Cole had also noticed that the Splicer King's eyes had been flashing "warning yellow" as other Supernovas called it.

Stuck describing all he knew about Balak, the conduit could only think of how much this was going to suck.

Alex for his part was more concerned about Kril. "I know there are fringe groups of batarians that work against the Hegemony, but what's this guy's angle Garrus? And for that matter, is he even going to be _alive_ two minutes from now? It didn't sound all that spectacular for him."

Garrus flared his mandibles. "Don't let his handicap fool you, Alex. Even you would have trouble catching him. When he was my confidential informant, C-Sec wanted him brought in for interrogation. Anyone with the information Kril was providing had to be in deep, and the Executor wanted to know everything. They turned the Wards upside down looking for him, and nothing. Three days later, I got a message from the Terminus systems telling me to leave his name out of any and all reports." The turian leaned back in his chair. "Kril avoided the best security force in the galaxy, a handful of his own people aren't going to have a chance of catching him. Still, it's probably best if we hurry."

Alex nodded, but the Master Chief wasn't so easily satisfied. "You're sure he can be trusted?" the super soldier asked. Ashley, Kaidan, and Wrex seemed to share the sentiment.

"I trust his information on batarian activity," the sniper replied. "Look, I know that most of you either hate batarians or hate the scorched earth policy they share with my own people, but can we get past that?"

Surprisingly, Cole was the vote of confidence. "We're obligated to investigate, so what does it matter?" He looked at the Master Chief critically. "You can treat the terrorists how you always do, but this guy may have just saved one of our largest colonies."

The electro-Spectre took the center of the room, pushing thoughts of Ryan aside for now. "I won't be going with you on this mission, nor will Alex. We can withstand harsh atmospheres, but neither of us can breathe in a total vacuum."

With this in mind, they began to prepare for the battle ahead.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_ETA Terra Firma: 3 hours_

Ryan was gasping for air as he rummaged through the drawers for his Traveler Ring. It was how the Supernovas conversed with others in Halla while on the job. Regular correspondence consisted of a Supernova sending close friends and possible family a journal or log of their experiences on the job. A return message was rare, and only under extreme circumstances was it even allowed.

"_I'd think a Raptor relapse qualifies."_ The Splicer King thought to himself. It had taken the power of the Force to destroy the Rapture Raptor – something he actually thanked Kreia for doing – so only an equally powerful Impulse would bring it back.

"Impulse" was the termed used to describe any territory's higher power. Supernovas and Uniques inevitably brought them into Solara when they arrived. While Halla's rules reigned supreme, aspects of the Impulses seeped into territories outside of their own. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and it _only_ affected the Soldiers of Halla. For example, through this flow, a Jedi could still harness the Force without actually being in a reality where the Force existed.

Despite the inability to alter anything directly, some Impulses would rarely impact the lives of Supernovas from a different home territory. Old Man Pendragon had attempted to halt the process, but while every Unique and Supernova took his word as law, those words had little impact on incorporeal forces that were more concept than character. Positive that he'd just been affected in such a way, Ryan was now desperate to know which Impulse had almost brought back his greatest strength and worst nightmare. He began an audio recording for Anna "Elizabeth" DeWitt.

"_Liz, if you can see what's behind all the damn doors, then now is a good time to help me out. What just hit me back there? I hear about a planet in danger of an asteroid, and suddenly my eyes are going 'warning yellow' again? You promised me this was over! Which Impulse was it, and why?"_

Putting the recording onto a playback disk, he whispered, "New Solara," and a miniature flume appeared. Tossing the disk into the musical trans-dimensional hole, he sat back and waited.

Ryan didn't have to wait long before a small trickle of blood ran out of his nose and the answer coalesced in his brain. The Splicer King paled at what he'd just learned.

* * *

_Sea of Doors_

_Lighthouse to New Solara_

_Elizabeth shoved open the massive double-door as if they weighed nothing. It wasn't a show of brute force, but metaphysics. Why should a door keep her out when she knew everything happening on the other side? The Mistress of Infinity strode forward without any regard for the many Uniques or the Heroic Spirits that had been put on edge by her sudden arrival. She came to a stop in front of Robert Pendragon, the eponymous Saber, and two Uniques, Commander Shepard and Emiya Shirou._

"_Is this a joke?!" she yelled at Shirou and his unflinching protector. "Was I unclear at some point? I specifically recall warning you and your lot that if Ryan was affected by your myriad of spiritual forces, I would personally stop Akasha Earth from ever __**existing**__!"_

_Shepard nodded. The Savior of the Citadel had chosen Ryan for his ability to outmaneuver Cerberus, not his Raptor persona. "I'm with Elizabeth. What exactly happened?"_

_Shirou just shook his head. "A planet and its entire human population are both threatened. Gaia and Alaya have both intervened."_

_Pendragon leaned back. "This was never a problem the many other times planets have been at risk. Why now?"_

_Elizabeth answered that one, anger clear on her face. "The Raptor was born in an amoral underwater dystopia. It's uncompromising in its goal to protect Ryan from physical or mental harm. These characteristics make him susceptible to the Impulses more than most Supernovas. Until now though, they've never sought him out." She sighed. "I wanted to keep it that way."_

_Saber took a step forward. "The Raptor has not yet resurfaced within him."_

_Elizabeth waved away the gesture of comfort. "Yes, I know. The Master Chief's aid will prevent any need for further intervention." The only things she couldn't foresee were the Impulses and what they would do. It made times like this particularly annoying when she was suddenly only half aware of the coming future._

"_This is insane," Shepard growled. "If Impulses are involved, the Reapers will drive Ryan to the point of no return. You know how many worlds they burnt. Civilization was ruined no matter how you look at it, and I doubt Alaya will turn a blind eye."_

_Elizabeth glared at the gender-neutral, omni-ethnic commander. "And such things never occurred to you before now? He's practically your stand-in on the territory!" She turned to Pendragon and jabbed a finger in his direction. "And don't you dare say 'this is the way it's meant to be.'"_

_Storming back out of a door that didn't, doesn't, and won't exist, she returned to the isolation of the Lighthouses. Whispering what she could to Ryan, she returned to traversing the currents of probability and time._

_The Leader of the Travelers raised a clenched fist. "Things used to be so much simpler."_

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_ETA Terra Firma: 2.5 hours_

The Splicer wiped the blood off his face as Cole walked in, but the conduit saw it anyway. "I'll ask once, Ryan: Is. The Raptor. Back?"

Ryan smirked. "Aw, you're _worried_ about me, MacGrath."

"I'm worried about the irreparable damage you could cause this galaxy as the Raptor."

Ryan pointed to his normal brown eyes. "I'm just fine."

When Cole seemed to buy it, Ryan stood up. "I'll tell you what I learned later, but first," the Torfan Tactician grinned ferociously. "I need to remind the batarians to leave humanity alone."

* * *

**Heavy stuff isn't it? I have now shown you all three aspects of my Supernova theme. The Uniques, the Impulses, and the titular Supernovas. **

**Again, before anyone starts thinking I'm tossing magic into a clearly tech-based world like Mass Effect, don't worry. The Impulse subplot is purely about Ryan and the Rapture Raptor. It's related to the last secret Ryan has left to reveal. Muahahaha!**

**Oh, and Jyggalag was the one who provided me with the one-armed batarian going by the alias of Jolem Kril. He's been kind enough to offer OCs when I need them, and I wanted one for the Bring Down the Sky arc. It just never made sense for the Normandy crew to magically know that there's an asteroid on course for Terra Nova. Heck, it didn't even seem like the Alliance knew about it! So I had the idea of a batarian confidential informant, and Jyggalag turned the idea into an actual character.**

**Now, I owe you guys a small preview for the long wait. This comes from a part in the trilogy that pretty much everyone loves:**

* * *

Ryan smirked as the Cerberus assassin stepped into the light. "From what I heard, you got your ass _kicked_ on Horizon." He gestured to the bruise on Kai Leng's face.

"I heard the same happened to you on Thessia," the ex-N7 taunted. "Besides, if that were true, your friend would have actually killed me."

The Splicer King just kept grinning. "He'll kill Reapers and Collectors easily, but he refuses to kill humans on principle, no matter how much they deserve it." Cracking his neck, he chuckled arrogantly. "Luckily, it means I get to beat you to death myself."

"Funny," Leng sneered. "I was just about to tell you the same thing!" Disappearing with a biotic flicker, the assassin rematerialized directly in front of Ryan, intending to slash him diagonally.

A metallic clanging noise indicated that something had halted the sword. Looking to the side, Kai Leng couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Commander Ryan had just blocked his monomolecular blade with a _wrench_.

* * *

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	34. Butcher

**I am so happy you guys liked the wrench teaser last chapter! You know shit's getting real when that day comes.**

**This is part one of two for the Bring Down the Sky arc. You get an epic finish next time.**

**Guest reviewer with no name asks: "Who are Gaia and Alaya?" This is an incredibly dumbed down explanation. If you want more, go to the TYPE-MOON wiki. A fan of this story introduced me to the concepts. For more information, go to the site and check it out.**

**Okay, ****Jyggalag**** provided me with the batarian OC in this chapter. It's "Kril" from last time, and I hope you guys like his part. Everything about the character's background belongs to Jyggalag, and it was created specifically for this storyline. Thank you, my friend. **

**I know that in Prototype 2 shifting to a disguise with a gas mask protects Heller/Mercer from suffocating. That's not the case here because it's ridiculous. That gas mask was his **_**skin**_**, and should have offered no protection. In this story, Alex can cope with anoxic environments by using armor and badass adaptive skills. Under no circumstances however, will I have him breathe in the void of space. Also remember the golden rule of Mass Effect helmets: No air and they're on. Inside or in a breathable environment, they are **_**always**_** off. Except for the Chief. (Spoilers) It never comes off, Halo 4 notwithstanding.**

**Another thing: I realize I've called Ryan both "N7 Magician" and "N7 Trickster" and this is intentional. He's the "Magician" to enemies because to them, his plasmids might as well be actual magic. "Trickster" is what the **_**Normandy**_** crew calls him because they aren't nearly as freaked out by his freaky talents anymore.**

**Again, if there are any more side missions you want to see besides Colony of the Dead and the two morality assignments, let me know ASAP!**

**Summary: No doubt about it. The batarians crossed the line. Now two pissed off Supernovas are returning the favor. Sure it's a rescue, but with this kind of brutality, it's a little hard to tell the heroes from the terrorists…**

**Spoilers: The usual, plus Fallout, KotOR, Megaman Zero 4, and **

**Disclaimer: *Glares at lawyer and lawyer glares back* Fine! I don't own anything here except the words "Supernova" and "Unique" as seen in this story's context. Now go bother somebody else. *Lawyer smirks and leaves* I hate that guy.**

* * *

Butcher

_SSV Normandy_

_Engineering Deck_

_Garage_

_X57 Approach_

"Alright let's move!" Ryan yelled to his squad, fire burning in his clenched fist. They were on a serious time crunch. The woman who had momentarily escaped capture actually radioed the _Normandy_ and saved them some time, but she disconnected just as quickly. No further contact had been made with Kril either.

"Lack of intel aside," the Commander declared, "our goal is simple: shut down the fusion torches, save the hostages, and bleed every batarian in our way that doesn't look like Garrus' informant."

Wrex and Garrus nodded as they dropped with Master Chief in the Mako. The Splicer King, standing in the center of the garage, vanished with a resounding crack, planning to meet them on the asteroid surface below.

From the CIC, Cole just shook his head. Alex Mercer excluded, the ground team was composed of the _Normandy's_ four most experienced killers. The conduit didn't have to see behind any cosmic doors of probability to know what was coming.

The use of an asteroid was meant to send a message that humanity was vulnerable. Ryan had done plenty of jobs in the past where unsavory groups had tried to send similar messages, and every time, those groups failed completely. Ryan wouldn't just defeat them. He would _demoralize_ them. Seeing your brothers-in-arms burst into flame, burst into shards of ice, or light up with several thousand volts of lightning was beyond anything the mind could readily accept. It was a two-pronged victory: the bad guys would leave the target alone, but with no survivors all they had were the terrifying rumors that spread like wildfire.

Cole had to be prepared in case the Son of Rapture showed his true colors.

* * *

_X57_

_Asteroid Surface_

Ryan clenched his teeth and took a calming breath as he dashed alongside the Mako. He had nothing against batarians specifically, but rather the brutal Hegemony that governed them. It was a society straight from George Orwell's mind, with a caste system that fully endorsed slavery, pillaged for its needs, crushed its own people underfoot, and actively sponsored terrorists like Balak. Naturally, they fully denied any involvement in Balak's attack on Terra Nova.

Ryan had heard that plenty of times before even coming to this reality. It was covert op 101: a convenient disclaimer made Balak look like he was acting alone instead of working with Hegemony endorsement. Regardless of the outcome, the Hegemony would remain safe from retaliation.

Of course, Ryan took solace in one fact: he'd strike back at Balak and his forces so hard, no further retaliation would even be necessary. Councilor Tevos was likely to die of _old_ _age_ before another incident like this occurred.

As they neared the first of the fusion torches, another frantic message came in from the escaped woman. _"You're headed in the right direction. I don't know who you are, but I'm-"_ a noise in the background interrupted whatever she was about to say. _"Dammit! Got to go!"_

Her panicked disconnect was perfectly timed with something Ryan hadn't seen since Torfan. Concealed turrets. Protected by retractable cylinders made of impossibly thick metal, they revealed themselves only when the targets were too close to avoid the incoming rockets.

Those damn things had ended a dozen lives under his command back on Torfan. Twelve good men dead from explosive dismemberment. The lenses of Ryan's helmet glowed red as he switched to enhanced thermals. This time would be different.

Abandoning speed, the Splicer King teleported right up to a turret on the far left. When the protective cylinder came down, he caught the first rocket with telekinesis and sent it back down the barrel of the gun, blowing a hole out the back and rendering it inoperable. He teleported to a cliff high on the right and repeated this process with a second turret stationed there.

The other four weren't nearly as simple. With two on either side of the entrance to the fusion torch, it was impossible to advance on one without entering the range of the other three. Luckily the Mako was able to provide support. As Ryan teleported up to the pair on the left side, the tank unleashed hell with primary and secondary weapons. Shifting focus to the larger threat allowed the Spectre to run like hell, but not before sticking one of the heavy turrets with a security command plasmid. Turning on its VI-controlled ally, the guns blew each other apart with liberal assistance from the Mako. With limited time, the group of Supernovas stuck to what worked and applied the same tactic to the turrets on the right.

"All clear," Garrus reported. It took another five seconds for Wrex to actually let go of the trigger. He wanted to see if Ryan could dance. (**A/N: Cue Ryan dancing like Jester from DMC 3.**)

Quickly, they made their way into the fusion torch facility.

* * *

_X57_

_Fusion Torch Station One_

It was quiet on the inside, but there was a slight shuffling in the next room. Ryan held up a hand and released a scout plasmid, immediately wishing he hadn't. The Splicer King turned to the group. "It's batarians and varren war beasts. Bastards are feeding a human corpse to their pets." He smirked at the Master Chief and nodded to the door. "Show them the error of their ways."

The Spartan walked up, crumpled the door like tinfoil, and started shooting. Three of the batarians were dead before they hit the floor. One of the varren tried biting into the Chief's leg and lost several teeth. It lost the rest of them when a very big very green boot came down on its head. Not even noticing its brother's mistakes, the second varren attempted the same thing, but the Chief just punted it into the oncoming batarians. Cutting down the fallen pile of enemies with hot metal, the super soldier completely ignored the sniper that hit him from above with an assassination beam.

Stunned that the high-powered round had done nothing, the batarian sniper was about to try again when a shattering noise filled the air behind him. Turning around, he came face-to-barrel, with Ryan's pistol.

Frowning in confusion, Ryan yelled, "Damn! I don't know what eyes to shoot you between!" Shrugging, he pulled the trigger anyway, and the round tore right through the alien's brain.

"Release the varren!" a gruff voice ordered. Three more batarians and two more varren came darting around the corner, but Wrex and Garrus were on it. After Ryan doused the soldiers in winter blast from his elevated position, the turian casually blew them to pieces with a single shot.

Driven by instinct, the two war beasts headed directly for the massive krogan. But as Wrex tore them apart with zero effort, it became clear that instinct alone didn't cut it. "Getting raised off of Tuchanka made the varren _soft_!" the battlemaster growled as the last batarian shattered. "I thought _my_ people had it bad, getting uplifted by aliens to fight their battles. But this," he pointed at the silvery fish-dog he'd just gutted with his shotgun. "This is just embarrassing. Bred wrong, fed wrong, and led wrong. I'd take a _single_ brown-stripe from Tuchanka over every knee-biting mutt Balak owns!"

While Garrus and Ryan offered "sincere" condolences at Wrex's suffering, the Master Chief went on ahead to shut down the fusion torch. The torrent of fire and plasma ceased and the rumbling stopped as yet another call from the escaped woman came in through the control panel.

"_I'm reading that the torch is offline. Was that you? Can you hear me?"_

Hearing the voice, Ryan jumped at the chance to learn more about the situation. "Yes, we can hear you. Details would be nice, especially since the batarians keep forcing you to disconnect." In the back of his mind, the Splicer King denied the hypocrisy of asking somebody not to hang up on _him_ after he constantly disconnected the Council. He did that to try and force them to learn. This girl was trying to stay alive. There was a big difference.

"_My name's Kate Bowman. I'm an engineer."_ She proceeded to explain more of who she was and how she'd been hiding. Then she said something truly upsetting. _"I think they know the torch went out."_ Ryan tried to ask for more, but was interrupted by her panicked voice again. _"I've got to go. Good luck!"_

They were almost back to the entrance when a gunshot sounded, colliding harmlessly with the Master Chief's shields. Weapons drawn, everyone took aim at a… human?

Looking up at the people he'd just shot at, Simon Atwell promptly apologized and introduced himself. "Who… are you… exactly?" he asked. It wasn't all that strange a question, given that a krogan, a turian, a massive green suit of armor, and a man with futuristic riot gear and a trench coat were all standing in front of him, armed to the teeth.

Ryan stepped forward. "Commander Ryan of the _Normandy_, at your service. I already have the basic idea: lots of batarian extremists and two more fusion torches that need to come offline. Am I missing anything?" He didn't want to sound like a jackass – at least no more than usual – but he was on the clock.

Simon nodded emphatically. "Two things, actually. First, one of the torches is surrounded by live blasting caps. They're wired with proximity detectors." He got a defeated look in his eye. "That tank of yours _will_ set them off, so you'd have to go on foot. Even then, they'll explode if you get too close."

Ryan smirked at the thought of how pointless a minefield was against him. "Trust me, that won't be a problem. What else?"

The chief engineer wrung his hands. "In the grand scheme of things, it sounds almost petty, but I had a crew working off-site when the attack hit. I'm worried about them."

The Splicer Spectre saw his chance to cut loose for a while. Looking at the squad, he issued orders. "I can teleport across the blasting cap minefield and take the second torch offline. While I work on that, you all can find Atwell's crew. We'll regroup at the third torch. Move out!"

The Master Chief knew what Ryan was up to, but if he called the "Commander" out on his decision, it could cause potential problems. However…

"Don't forget the helmet cam, 'sir,'" the Spartan requested. "Cole wants eyes on everything that happens down here, so if you go solo, you'll need to provide a visual." That should keep the Rapture-spawn from going too far off the deep end.

Ryan grumbled but complied. They split up and headed toward their separate goals, both hoping for the best yet fearing the worst.

* * *

_X57_

_Main Facility_

The batarian known to Garrus as "Jolem Kril" tried to hold back another round of coughs. Balak was a special kind of tenacious. The soulless Special Forces veteran was smart too. He kept everything so close to the vest that "Kril" and everyone else on the mission thought it was a slave run. In that case, his plan had been to notify his _true_ superiors of the ship's destination and be mysteriously absent when Balak got caught trafficking humans to Hegemony space.

Of course, he had to scrap that when the madman finally showed his cards. In an act of desperation, "Kril" complained that his prosthetic was acting up, tricking Balak to place him on guard duty near the slaves. From there, he pretended to hear the prisoners making trouble, opened the door, got "overpowered" by two of the humans, and hoped the furless apes could be useful in the next part of his plan.

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, Balak was smart. The leader of the extremists knew "Kril" didn't make mistakes. If they had escaped, Balak realized it was because "Kril" wanted them to. Soon more guns were aimed at the batarian amputee than at the escaped hostages. "Kril" avoided execution with choice words and the ultimate weakness of a race with four eyes: the flashbang grenade.

On the run and out of lies, "Kril" almost didn't get out alive. Just to escape the Hegemony's most ruthless pet, he intentionally set off the volatile canisters clustered around the elevator access to the basement. The explosion was bad enough, but the materials inside were even worse.

On the bright side, they had no chance of reaching his position and the medi-gel would eventually have him back in action. Of course, the only way "Kril" was getting off this rock with his remaining limbs intact was if Vakarian actually pulled through and brought the Torfan Tactician.

"Kril" received an alert on his omni-tool that snapped him from his musings. It appeared that one of the fusion torches had gone offline. The batarian spy tried to laugh, but it came out as another coughing fit.

The one armed batarian, known by his compatriots in the "Free Sons of Khar'Shan" as Alik Salanis, let the cough finally subside before leaning back against the wall and grinning in triumph. "One down, two to go. You dealt the Hegemony a crippling blow before, Commander Ryan. I'm hoping you can do it again."

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_Liara's Quarters_

The asari maiden was once again hunched over as Alex crept into the room. With Wrex gone, he was bored beyond recognition, and he knew that Liara was working too hard as usual. Silently climbing up the wall and onto the ceiling, the virus peered at her notes. He quickly deduced that they weren't about the Protheans, but rather some information on the husks they'd come across in their travels. Curious, Alex dropped to the floor, making enough noise to startle Ashley on the deck below. To her credit, Liara didn't even budge. She knew that any relationship between them was doomed to failure if he thought she was too afraid.

"What's new Blue?" Alex asked with an almost imperceptible smile. Not the psychotic variety, but a "happy" one that he swore on his own grave in New York City would _never_ cross his face.

The archaeologist just sighed, eager to explain what she'd learned but afraid of the implications. When the virus had gotten tired waiting for a response, he did the unthinkable. Spreading a hand over each of Liara's shoulders, he began to work out the knots she'd acquired from endless hours spent hunched over the terminal. (**A/N: I feel her pain.**)

Whatever that acolyte working for the Consort knew about touch, Alex Mercer knew more for two reasons. First, he'd consumed several assassins in his life as well as a few asari commandos. Normally he would use such knowledge to inflict greater pain, but right now, it served to provide the Liara with the ultimate asari-specific neck rub.

Second, there was his strength. His fingertips had more strength than a regular person's entire arm, so a light nudge was all it took. With ten of those fingers working over her shoulders, neck, and upper back all at once, Liara felt decades of tension just disappear, taking most coherent thought and speech along with it.

Taking his hands away after about a minute of this, Alex smirked down at his handiwork. The asari lay back in a contented daze with a dopey grin on her face. As if the sociopath needed a further ego boost, her eyes had gone into the pitch black "eternity" mode because of his efforts.

"Oh yeah. I'm good," he chuckled. This snapped Liara out of her trance, and her eyes flickered back to sky blue as she recollected the thoughts Alex had so thoroughly obliterated.

She gawked up at her… what exactly was he? Aside from a hug after her mother's death and the – fantastic – neck rub he just gave her, Alex wasn't the "affection" type, and that made their relationship all the more difficult to classify. Whatever the man was to her, Liara gawked at him. "By the goddess, Alex! What did you _do_ to me?"

The virus shrugged. "I believe I eased the tension in your neck that's been building since your first semester at the University of Serrice." Returning to business, he motioned to her notes. "I hate to kill the mood, but why are you looking data compiled on the husks?"

Liara shook her head. "Alex Mercer reluctant to kill something? I never thought I'd see the day, and I'm an _asari_." They shared a laugh before Liara pulled up her findings. "I'm doing what you taught me, and I'm searching for the lies." The virus gave an impressed smirk before gesturing at her to continue. "Tali doesn't believe that the husks originated with geth technology. At first, I thought she was just denying the possibility of geth advancement, but now, she may be right."

The asari pulled up all the locations where husks had been encountered by the _Normandy_ team. "All of these places had geth with them, except for one…" She lowered all but the bottom right image. Refocusing, Liara went on. "Trebin was filled with what Garrus called "machine cultists" that had stumbled upon an alien artifact of some kind. That artifact somehow convinced the survey team to impale themselves on dragon's teeth. Even worse, the artifact they unearthed was long gone when we arrived."

Alex nodded in understanding. "It takes a serious mind screw to convince somebody to willingly put a spike like that through their gut." While it didn't convert the runner into a mindless techno-zombie, Alex learned from his duel with the Supreme Hunter just how terrible it felt to be on the _receiving_ end of a groundspike attack. In layman's terms, it hurt like a bitch.

"Exactly!" Liara enthusiastically replied. "But think of the larger implication. Both Shiala and my mother described Saren's ship, _Sovereign_, as capable of similarly dominating people's minds. The geth didn't make the husk technology. They _found_ it."

"Or it was given to them," Alex finished, "by their 'prophet' Saren Arterius."

Liara frowned. "We still don't know where Saren obtained the Reaper technology."

The Blacklight virus shook his head. "If I had to guess, he got it from the Reapers."

"But the Reapers have vanished, Alex. There's less about them than the Protheans!"

He turned to Liara, expression grim. "I know. That's what worries me."

* * *

_X57_

_Asteroid Surface_

_Team 2: Master Chief and Mako group_

"Drones inbound!" Garrus yelled as they stumbled upon the last of the Atwell's missing engineers. Apparently this poor fool had activated defenses in hopes of warding off the attacking batarians. He failed, and now the flying robots were trying to rip the Master Chief's team apart.

They went to work. The Master Chief set off a grenade in the center of the pack, Garrus caught three in a wide-range overload, and Wrex launched a heavy carnage blast that blew apart one and sent the pieces flying into another.

"If I didn't know any better," the krogan grunted sarcastically, "I'd think Ryan stuck us with the boring work just so he could have all the fun."

The Chief sighed pulled the trigger, and didn't let go until all remaining drones had been ripped to shreds. "Exactly."

* * *

_X57_

_Blasting Cap Field_

_Team 1: Jack "Rapture" Ryan_

Four batarians stood outside the second fusion torch, all of them laughing. "Can you believe this stupid human?" one of the rocket soldiers exclaimed. "He's trying to walk across the blasting caps!"

The second rocket soldier hoisted his launcher and took aim. "Let me give him a proper greeting."

He was about to pull the trigger and turn the witless two-eye into a crater, but his target suddenly vanished from sight. The batarian almost used the rocket on himself in pure terror. There was only one man in the galaxy capable of that. "Shit! It's the Torfan Tactician!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a swarm of rocks began to pummel the four aliens from all sides. Enough of the debris had smacked at their armor that cracks had formed, letting precious oxygen escape. As they lay on the ground, gasping for air, one of the blasting caps was ripped from the ground by an invisible hand. As it hurtled at the group of terrorists the last thing they heard was the Tactician yelling, "Catch!"

**BOOM**

Stepping over the burning remains, Ryan grinned at the undamaged exterior of the torch facility. While the priority was saving Terra Nova, he _really_ needed to knock some heads, and if they had suffocated inside from a breached wall, he'd have lost that chance. Despite his knack for operating from the shadows, Ryan much preferred to do his own killing. It wasn't out of bloodlust, but principle.

What good was an arsenal of brutal tricks and talents if one had no intention of _using_ them? Since Feros, the Splicer King had killed four Cerberus commandos, and that was about it. Now with his mind refreshed from decent sleep, he was back at the top of his game. Whatever the batarians wanted to prove by ramming an asteroid into the colony, Ryan had a counteroffer:

"_Fuck with humanity, and I'll burn you alive."_

He was about to step inside when a gunship came up over the small rocky hill. The N7 Magician sighed. He should have expected this. They came on a ship, and naturally they'd leave on a ship just in time to escape the fireworks. That ship would of course possess a small army, heavy ordnance, and a gunship or two for wiping out any resistance to their plan.

Without pausing to give some grand speech or boast, the pilot began firing at Ryan mercilessly. Teleporting out of the way, he rematerialized on the side of the gunship, anchored by one of his hooks. Taking his free hand, the Splicer King engaged his omni-drill and rammed it through the hull. Dropping a gravity well plasmid through the hole, Ryan leapt off as the unstable gunship came crashing down…

Right on top of the blasting caps.

_**KABOOM**_

Smirking, Ryan waltzed inside. There was more fun to be had.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_War Room_

_Orbiting X57_

Cole looked at the gathered crowd. They deserved to know the truth about the man they'd chosen to follow into hell. "Anyone who feels the need to leave after witnessing this is free to do so. Ryan's a firm believer in individual choice. He'll understand." Words finished, the Prime Conduit brought up the image of what Ryan was doing to the batarians inside the second fusion torch facility.

Everyone present gasped. Nothing in the galaxy moved that way, not even Alex. They watched from Ryan's perspective as he leapt about like a _demon_, breaking armor and bone with each strike, and leaving fire, ice, and electricity in his wake. He jumped on the back of one, used him as a meat shield, then snapped his fingers, burning alive a man guilty of shooting his own friend.

Callously snapping his shield's neck for good measure, their Commander pulled out his hooks only to let them go. They floated in the air, animated by the Spectre's own telekinetic power. Moving them to assault the batarians he wasn't directly killing with other means, the remaining forces all died horribly before his onslaught.

Two varren came from alternate directions, but that quickly ceased to matter. Pointing his hands to either side, their CO launched swarms of _bees_, actual stinging insects, from each palm. The bugs relentlessly attacked the war beasts, and with another snap of his fingers, they became clouds of hot ash, burning right through the varren's flesh.

One last batarian tried to get in close, but his success was attributed to the Commander not actively attempting to kill him. The four eyed alien gunned down what he _thought_ was Ryan, only to have the doppelganger violently explode, reducing the poor bastard to paste on the wall.

They thought the show was over as the fighting had stopped. They were wrong. The worst part was when their Commander dropped from the ceiling, rolled his head from side to side, and readjusted his shoulders. He began to walk away from the slaughter he'd committed like nothing ever happened.

"Butcher of Torfan" indeed…

Cole ended the live feed and sighed. "I shared this because you all had a right to know. Garrus and Wrex wouldn't care. Hell, I think they'd be impressed. But the rest of you? You're all a little bit more reserved, and I wanted to know if you would trust him after seeing that display."

Alex couldn't believe this. He knew what Cole was really up to. It was a goodwill gambit of sorts. Showing just how inhuman the Supernovas could be makes the inevitable reveal of their actual origins hurt that much less. Rather than feel betrayed, the crew would simply realize why they had such insane talents. _"Not bad Cole."_

Liara, accustomed to seeing Alex rip apart everyone else in a similar manner, took it the best. She wondered though, did the Commander enjoy such violence, or was he simply good at it?

Kaidan was shocked, but he knew the score. If anyone could beat Saren, it was Commander Jack Ryan. Still, what the hell did he just witness? N7 or not, that wasn't possible.

Tali thought for a moment. Did she approve of what she saw? No. Did she trust Ryan? Absolutely. Her father's words echoed in the back of her mind, but she refused to acknowledge them. The quarian promised to stand by him until the end, and she planned to keep that promise. Still, she was beginning to see why Ryan constantly tried to be a mentor to Garrus. He wanted the turian to avoid becoming like him.

Ashley broke the pattern of internal monologues. "Where did he possibly learn that he could do that? Who told him that if he snapped his fingers, fire would appear? What possible training program involved teaching him to bounce off the walls and hang from the ceiling like a man _possessed_? I want some answers Cole!"

"And you think I have them for you?!" Cole screamed. "Maybe you haven't noticed it, but Ryan and I don't always see eye-to-eye. He fights like a monster because that's what science has turned him into! He hates his existence so much more than you could possibly imagine, but he puts on a cocky grin and pretends not to give a shit, and it's for all of _you_!"

He calmed down quickly. "I can't tell you what hell he went through because frankly, I don't have a damn clue." This wasn't entirely a lie. "All I'm asking is that you understand. There is nobody like him, the Chief, Alex, or me anywhere in the galaxy. We are alone, and this crew is the closest we have to family right now." Cole shook his head. "I just want to know: do you trust us to do the right thing?"

"Keelah se'lai."

Everyone looked at Tali. She stepped forward and grinned gently behind her mask. "I will follow you all."

"As will I," Liara announced.

"Give me a warning before you do that stuff, but otherwise, count me in," Kaidan remarked chuckling lightly at his own joke.

"_Hey Boss?"_ Joker called over the comm. _"I trust you lunatics, but if the Commander does that kind of crap on the walls of my baby, you'll be looking for a new pilot pretty damn quick."_

"Much appreciated, Joker," Cole replied, happy that they had even the cynical helmsman's vote.

Everyone was looking at Ashley now. She rolled her eyes and playfully jabbed Cole in the arm. "Of course I trust you guys. Why can't I stay mad at you, dammit?" Their relationship had become similar to brother and sister. They gave each other a hard time, but it was all in good fun.

Cole laughed, but he was interrupted by the live feed behind him. They all turned their attention back to the image in front of an enraged Ryan.

* * *

_X57_

_Fusion Torch Facility Two_

"Kate? Kate! Kate Bowman, where the hell are you?" Ryan continued to scream at the long-silent console. After he shut down the torch, she contacted him, intending to explain that the Batarians were onto him and the others, but she never finished. Balak finally had cornered Kate and her brother, and now Ryan wasn't entirely sure if either one was still alive. She hadn't signed up for this. Every single scratch that woman got was on the Splicer King's head.

They were at the main facility, but the last fusion torch was still active. The Master Chief could easily handle it and let Ryan tear Balak's head off, but it wasn't that simple. Hostage situations were notoriously complicated to handle, especially for him. He usually shot the hostage and made an example of the kidnappers just to prove a point.

"_Made quite the mess haven't you, Ryan?"_ It was Cole. The Splicer King knew why he was calling.

"You showed them what I am." It wasn't a question.

"_He showed us,"_ Tali answered, _"and it doesn't matter. Keelah se'lai Captain."_

"_Considering who I owe my life to, your behavior is hardly unusual."_ Liara of course.

"_Humanity always has to label somebody the freak, Commander. First it was the biotics. Now it's the four of you. You can prove them right, or you can show them just how wrong they've always been."_ Kaidan. Always the voice of reason in a group of crazy.

"_Give 'em hell, Skipper!"_ Even Ashley was on his side. He didn't expect her to count him as human once she saw the things he could really do.

The sheer loyalty almost knocked Ryan off of his feet. Never had he gained this kind of support without significant leverage. This crew saw what he was in the dark, and they still had faith. It was such a foreign concept, but he welcomed it wholeheartedly.

With renewed conviction, Ryan broadened the comm. line to include the Master Chief's team. "You guys there?" he asked.

The sound of the Mako's cannons going nonstop greeted his ears as Garrus responded._ "Naturally, and we're kicking ass to boot. The third torch is well guarded, but we'll handle it. Just save the main facility."_

Wrex chose this moment to cut in. _"See if you can leave a few for the rest of us this time. Ha!"_

The Master Chief opened a secondary private line to say a few words. _"Cortana located Garrus' contact. 'Jolem Kril' is trapped in the main facility basement. He's against the Batarian Hegemony, and that's good enough for us."_ There was a pause. _"Save Kril and save the hostages. Leave the rest up to me. Spartan-117 out."_

While Solara was no longer dependent upon hope for existence, the concept still held true. That hope – the hope of their entire squad – was currently surging through the Splicer King, steeling him for the coming trials.

Facing the console, he yelled into it one last time.

"You want the man shutting down the torches? You've got him. I'm coming after _you_ now, Balak!"

* * *

_X57_

_Main Facility_

The force behind each word actually gave Balak a slight chill. He turned to Charn, his second-in-command. "There's still one torch online. Make sure it _stays_ that way."

Charn really didn't want to oblige, but if he didn't Balak would simply kill him on the spot. Nodding, he took his team and made for the third torch. This was totally insane, and far more than he'd signed up for.

"_Charn, you don't really think you'll stop any of them do you?"_ It was Jolem Kril – or whoever he really was.

Charn sighed. "How would you know anything going on up here?"

"_Please Charn, I'm in logistics. All resources and information go through me at some point. Those resources include armor, which can be programmed to send all feedback to my omni-tool. I know everything. I would have known it sooner, but I think Balak was intentionally playing this one close to the vest. He must have finally realized there was a leak within his merry band of_ _pirates."_

Charn closed all four of his eyes in frustration, but he kept walking. "You know better than anyone. What Balak wants, he gets."

"_Actually I don't know that. Before we shut ourselves off from the rest of the galaxy, the batarian people were shrewd businessmen. My money is on the Torfan Tactician."_

That actually made Charn stop. "What did you just say?"

On the other end of the line, Kril laughed. _"Balak didn't tell you? The people you're about to go try and stop – emphasis on try – are Commander Ryan's people. The Tactician is here, and he brought his friends. Balak is too insane to consider leaving, but you've got the common sense to know when to fold. Nobody stands a chance against them. Nobody ever will. Do what you want, but if you honestly expect to leave this place alive, then leave __**now**__. Otherwise…"_

A light flashed on Charn's omni-tool. He opened the message and saw that the giant green suit of armor was thrashing everyone at the torch facility. The titan known as "Master Chief" plucked one of their elite shock troopers off the ground, ignoring the man's biotics, and slammed him into the wall with enough force to crack it. The whole time, the giant human was being shot, but he didn't even seem to _care_.

"_You don't know this one quite as well, but he has issues with aliens __**and**__ terrorists. Seriously Charn. Just walk away."_

By now, Balak's lieutenant was outside and on his way to the torch facility. He considered just leaving, but stopped. "If I bug out, Balak hunts me down and skins me alive."

"_Not if he's dead. Of course, that's hard to do when they don't have the access card to stop him."_

A lone figure slammed into the middle of the group, scattering them like leaves. It was the Tactician!

"_Now's a good time to decide Charn!"_

"I yield! I yield!" Charn dropped his gun and held out his hands in a universal symbol of surrender. Miraculously, the humanoid monstrosity looming over him stopped his rampage. Not wasting any time, Charn kept talking. "I'm going to reach into my left pocket and give you the access card for the main facility. You can't get in without it." He honestly didn't know if that was true, but if the Tactician was able to teleport just _anywhere_, then he'd have already shown up in the main facility and slaughtered them all.

The Commander held out his hand, and the second Charn's access card was in the N7 Magician's grip, he was already moving again. "That guy's crazier than Balak!"

"_Which is exactly why Balak won't make it off this rock alive. Take this gift and see if you can avoid your master's fate."_

Charn didn't respond. He was done talking to a freedom fighter. He was also done with Balak. He was done with a lot of things.

Back in the basement level of the main facility, Alik chuckled darkly and pushed off the ground with his prosthetic arm. As much as his work as "Kril" was good for the humans and his own cause, he couldn't help but think that he'd saved the Hegemony too.

If this attack had succeeded, the "One Man Dreadnaughts" of Humanity would have probably gone to war with his people. There wouldn't have been any batarians left at the end.

Activating his armor's distress beacon, Alik waited for somebody – preferably with two eyes – to find him and get him out.

He vaguely heard a shattering noise. It was well known to every batarian in the galaxy.

The Torfan Tactician had arrived. He'd brought Hell with him.

* * *

**This is the end of part one. Part two comes soon, and it has the final battle with heavy Master Chief action. I know you're probably pissed that I'm making you wait, but I'll have the next chapter in just a few days, I promise.**

**As a peace offering, I give you this beauty from **_**The Supernovas of Mass Effect: One Way Flight**_**. Warning. Spoilers ahead:**

* * *

Ryan teleported away from the distorted scion, barely avoiding a very painful shockwave. "These Collectors are good!" he yelled. "They've got an entire army of Nimbus and Nova-class combatants. Not one of the bastards is Infantry."

"Annoying too!" Alex screamed as he broke a Collector assassin in half. "I swear, next time I hear the words-"

"_**ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL"**_

The Blacklight Virus whipped out his blade. "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!"

Grunt could barely contain his glee as the bloodthirsty predator charged straight at Harbinger's possessed drone. The virus was struck repeatedly by black and yellow biotic attacks, but he didn't even stagger. He cleaved Harbinger in two from shoulder to hip, and drowned out the thing's final words with a boast of his own.

"WHO'S NEXT?!" he challenged the horde, a fearsome sight even with gaping wounds covering his body.

Grunt had learnt that Ryan and Alex were both "tank-bred" in their own weird ways. But between the two, he much preferred dealing with Alex Mercer. He found the best fights.

"Heh heh heh…"

* * *

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	35. Terror Tactics

**Welcome to the end of the Bring Down the Sky arc. You won't know what hit you.**

**I actually mean that. Supernova awesomeness aside, this is based on my game's glitch from the first time I played this mission. Instead of a moderate group of batarians and drones, I spent over TWENTY MINUTES trying to survive against Balak's private army. I lost track of my kills at forty. I shit you not.**

**Again, thank you ****Jyggalag**** for the batarian OC called "Jolem Kril" aka Alik Salanis. I hope I was clear enough that Alik was his real name. More explanation in this chapter.**

**IMPORTANT: The poll on my profile is closing soon, so if you want your voice heard before Virmire comes, go to my profile now and CAST YOUR VOTE! In the interest of keeping things fair, I'm making the statistics visible to everyone for the remaining time before I shut it down. **

**Also I put in a spoiler for MMZ4 that never appeared. Stop looking because it's not there. It's on the cutting room floor, but I didn't remove the spoiler warning too. I've made false spoiler alerts in the past, and feel free to call me out on it. I deserve it for not checking carefully enough.**

**Finally, I'm sad to say that updates will become less frequent and less regular as summer draws to a close. How often I post is entirely dictated by how difficult my courses are. I know it sucks, but that's reality for you. *cowers inside bunker* Don't kill me!**

**Alright enough of that. Let's get to the fun stuff.**

**Summary: Invigorated by his crew's trust and faith, Ryan achieves the impossible. Take a look at the more humane stuff he used to do for the Uniques…**

**Spoilers: Usual spoilers plus Fallout**

**Disclaimer: Like everyone else who writes a story to clean up Bioware's mess, I don't own anything here.**

* * *

Terror Tactics

_X57_

_Main Facility_

What Alik had thought to be Ryan teleporting into the facility was actually the Splicer King _leaving_. Ryan had actually taken the elevator down while invisible, stepped out, and walked around unseen. His greatest limit was he couldn't reliably teleport to places he didn't have a good mental picture for. Schematics provided a tentative substitute, but the Spectre preferred to see his location in person for maximum efficiency.

Observing the hostages, the fortified positions, the drones, the basement access where "Kril" had likely been trapped, and the various bomb locations Balak had set up, Ryan dropped invisibility just long enough to flip off every terrorist in the room before teleporting back to the _Normandy_ for a little help in the EOD department.

He didn't have to worry. The Spartan coming in the front door guns blazing indicated the situation was well in hand.

* * *

_X57_

_Asteroid Surface_

_Main Facility Exterior_

_Ten minutes ago_

"This is insane!" Garrus yelled. "_Moving turrets_? What the hell do you need those for on a mining asteroid?"

"You're welcome to get out and ask them, turian," Wrex growled over the endless drumming of Mako and turret fire.

That gave the Master Chief an idea. It was absurd, but it would end this much faster. "Allow me. Garrus, take the wheel."

"Spirits, are you insa-"

His question was answered when the Chief opened the side door, leapt out, and began to run at unprecedented speeds towards one of the mobile-base turrets.

"No wonder he's a super soldier," Wrex muttered. "He _needs_ the extra strength to carry that massive quad around."

This was far more rockets than he'd dodged on Luna Base, but it changed nothing. Compared to his test with the Mk V armor on Reach, this was actually easy. He was too fast, and the rocket turrets couldn't predict where he would be since not foot mobile in history had ever reached this speed. A decoy launched in a perpendicular direction every thirty steps had the turrets even further confused.

The plan was to repeat the hack trick from Luna, but there was a catch. He couldn't let Cortana do it because it would look strange for anything coming within range of his armor to instantly get hacked. Luckily, there was an alternative. "Master Chief to Tali'Zorah," he radioed.

"_Please Chief. Just call me Tali like everyone else on the ship. Anyway, what can I do for you?"_

"I'm running approaching several rocket turrets on foot, and I-"

"_You're __**what**__?!"_

The Spartan rolled his eyes. And people wondered why he didn't talk all that much? What he considered normal often looked insane to everyone else. "I'm approaching rocket turrets on foot." He paused to dodge the payload of said turrets before continuing. "I need you to use my armor as a signal booster to hack them before the Mako gets scrapped."

"_Alright, but you'll have to get in pretty close."_ He could tell from the quarian's tone she still thought he was nuts.

"Not a problem."

With that, the Master Chief, did the impossible and quickened his pace, running past two rocket turrets in the blink of an eye. Tali could barely turn them on each other fast enough before he was moving back out of range! Garrus and Wrex pulled out all the stops with the Mako. With the guns more focused on the unstoppable half-ton suit of armor, the duo ripped them apart with the most deadly – and unheard of – concept in the galaxy: a turian and a krogan working _together_. Such a terrifying force quickly tore through every stationary gun left in the area.

The Chief wasn't content to just run by the turret as Tali hacked it through his systems. In the low gravity, he was able to easily jump over it, thus putting himself behind the entire facility. None of the remaining turrets could swivel around completely to face him, so he slowed to the Spartan equivalent of a "light jog" while Tali finished wreaking long-distance havoc.

"We got 'em all, Chief!" Garrus called out, more than a little proud to have been in the driver seat against that many guns.

"You mean, the _krogan_ got 'em all," Wrex chuckled.

"_The quarian helped."_

The Master Chief sighed. With a body count higher than the Prothean Extinction, these guys could bring umbrellas larger than the Citadel, and the ONI super soldier would _still_ win this pissing match. Rather than comment, he motioned for Garrus to bring the Mako around near the facility entrance.

The door was locked, but the Master Chief wasn't worried. He gestured to a slot carved into the wall of the bunker. The access card was inside. "Good thing Ryan left the key under the mat." This earned a confused look from both aliens. "It means… never mind, let's go."

They took the elevator down into the impressive main facility, and just as the Spartan kicked the door out and began shooting, he heard the shattering sound of one Splicer King teleporting away.

Either Ryan had a plan, or he was toying with his enemies at the worst possible time. As much as the Chief hoped it was the former, it was a bad thing for everyone regardless.

* * *

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_War Room_

_Orbiting X57_

_Present Time_

_Warning: Catastrophe Imminent_

"Hell no!" Cole shouted. "I'm all for disarming bombs, but not if that's your endgame!" He thought he was finally getting through to Ryan, but this idea proved otherwise. "It's very simple 'Commander'. While I work on the explosives, you and the others will handle Balak and his men. Whether he's apprehended or killed in the firefight, I don't care. Either way is better than what you have in mind!"

Ryan sighed. The conduit had the ability to draw on Kessler's manipulation skills, but Cole's hatred for his future self often kept him from even trying. If he would broaden his perception just a bit, he'd see a better solution than anything.

The Splicer King began to explain in pieces. "If Balak dies in the firefight, he's a martyr for an already anti-human cause. The batarian will use his name to spur every anti-human alien in the Terminus to lash out against our colonies. That's unacceptable and you know it."

Cole threw his hands up in frustration. "Then make sure he's arrested!"

Ryan shook his head. "Assume we pull this off and arrest him. News will spread that we don't even _kill_ the people that try and destroy a planet filled with humans. That's even worse than killing him. Also, as an External Forces officer, Balak is a threat from inside jail. Not only would he be running the prisons in a few weeks, he'd start riots and eventually get free." Cole looked skeptical at that last one. The Splicer Spectre rolled his eyes. "After he's sown plenty of discord among the inmates, the Shadow Broker will conveniently blackmail the Alliance into releasing Balak into the custody of the Hegemony. Of course, they'll be the ones who paid for all this, and now with their best terrorist free again, it'll be time for round two. Round four if you count Elysium and Torfan."

Cole was impressed. He knew all these facts too, but he had to actively think like Kessler to put it together. Ryan just did it on the fly when Cole wouldn't play ball. "Your mind is always working like this isn't it? No matter what happens in the now, you aren't satisfied unless you've thought ten moves ahead. How do you do it?"

The Son of Rapture grinned mirthlessly. "I broke." Before Cole could ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, Ryan grabbed the conduit's arm and teleported them back to the facility.

It was game time.

* * *

_X57_

_Main Facility_

_Warning: Unauthorized Ordnance detected. Threat Level: Black_

They rematerialized in the midst of Balak's hostages. Cole wordlessly strode over to the bomb and began draining it dry. The hostages – Kate Bowman included – were both scared and relieved. Their lives were no longer in immediate peril, but they didn't have a clue what was happening.

Then it sunk in. Humanity's heroes existed. They weren't propaganda or rumor. They were real, and they were here to save Terra Nova.

The Torfan Tactician and the Storm of Elysium stood tall as the bomb was disarmed. Turning to the hostages, Ryan gave them one command. "Keep away from the windows until the shouting and shooting stops." And with that, he hacked open the door, moved to the side as Cole spark-stepped past him, and then fused the door frame shut with a torrent of fire. "Now it's a party!" he yelled before lobbing a gravity well plasmid downrange. Every member of the ground team was a Supernova, and that meant the batarians were _fucked_.

He began issuing orders. "Cole, disarm the rest of the bombs! Garrus, Wrex, watch his right flank! Chief, you get the left flank! I'm going after Kril. Contact me if you see Balak." The Splicer King disappeared from sight, and all hell broke loose.

Garrus had found the perfect ledge. No matter where Cole went, the turian had a perfect line of sight on anything that tried to touch him. One after another, the sniper just didn't miss a single headshot. Every now and again, a drone or a batarian shock trooper would try their luck against the Electro-Spectre. A good overload would take out the drones, and with a simple tech attack, the shock troopers were turned from menacing biotics to easy prey. A targeting laser alerted Garrus to batarian snipers. He snarled, secondary voice coming in loud and angry. "If my informant is hurt, Balak," he blew off the enemy sniper's upper pair of eyes, "you'll wish that had been you."

There was one weakness to Garrus' perch. It was exposed beyond all recognition. Half of the remaining forces were now surging in the ex-cop's direction, only to run straight into over eight hundred pounds of bloodthirsty krogan. "Hello princesses!" Wrex laughed, unloading with both his regular shotgun and the "High Five" experimental shotgun. Joker had come up with the name after Nepheron. Since it could manage five HE rounds before needing to eject the heat sink, the name fit perfectly. Against the wishes of the Alliance brass, Alex ensured that all schematics were destroyed in order to prevent an arms race.

Of course, all that mattered right now was the fact that Wrex was shooting everything with it. Batarian shock troopers had nothing on his experience as a krogan battlemaster. His biotics were superior, and he'd forgotten more about weapons than any of them would ever learn. Even now, he put his knowledge to work, applying a rapid-reload technique he had learned from "playing" with his grandfather's antique firearms. Several drones tried to swarm him, but a mere thought turned them to ash as he detonated his biotic barrier. "Works every time," the warrior chuckled. Out of ammo for the High Five, he made do with the occasional carnage blast from his normal shotgun.

It was a rare thing to see a krogan protecting a turian so enthusiastically, but such was the way of the _Normandy_.

Cole would have loved to join the fight, but he had no time. The bombs were still ticking and he couldn't track them down while spark-stepping. Falling back on parkour, the conduit climbed, ran, and rolled across the facility, letting his radar pulse guide him to the bombs. A batarian tried to protect one of the explosives by standing directly in front of it. The plan was solid, but when Cole threw out a frost shield until he was right in front of the extremist, the execution was proven to be a disaster. Grabbing the man by his four-eyed head, Cole savaged the batarian with more electricity than the New Vegas Strip used in a week. Tossing the wrecked terrorist aside, he started draining the bomb. "So at the hospital you, what, blink twice for yes and four times for no?"

The Master Chief was fighting nonstop. Actually that wasn't true. Fighting implied a struggle. It was more accurate to say the Master Chief was _killing_ nonstop. The Covenant wanted to glass all of humanity because of some fake religious bullshit the Prophets came up with. These radicals were doing it just because they didn't like humans. Cutting down three more with his assault rifle, his expressionless visor did nothing to hide the rage. They came at him with biotics, and he shot them down. They sent in the drones, and with his thrusters, he just tore the machines out of the air. They came at him with tech attacks, guns, rockets, and even turret emplacements. Nothing stopped him. What he didn't ignore, the Spartan just dodged with ease born from a lifetime of killing far more challenging enemies.

All of this was happening at breakneck speed. At least, that's what the batarians felt. The Master Chief had gone into what Kelly-087 had dubbed "Spartan Time" in a past life, so to him this was a leisurely – if somewhat wrathful – pace. He wouldn't say he enjoyed their deaths. He would welcome a world that didn't need him to fight anymore. But since that day hadn't come yet, he still had a purpose. And when that purpose happened to align with his reason for getting turned into a Spartan in the first place, he was owed a little pride in his work.

_**BOOM**_

_**BANG**_

_**CRASH**_

_**KRAACK**_

_**ZAAAP**_

Alik wasn't entirely sure if bringing the Tactician was a good thing anymore, but when the "man" in question suddenly appeared in front of him, the freedom fighter didn't dare complain. Slipping back into the Kril persona, he asked, "Is the colony saved?"

Ryan just looked at him sideways. "I may not know your name, but I certainly know your game. The Hegemony has a sinister 'with us or against us' policy as we both know. You're not with them, as today's actions have proven, so that leaves one option."

Alik closed all of his eyes. "You're against the Hegemony too, but that doesn't mean we're necessarily allies. If it protects your own people, how many of mine would you kill like on Torfan?"

"The exact number required," Ryan answered without hesitation. "No more, and certainly no less."

"As long as we understand each other," Alik huffed. "Now since you haven't taken me into custody and grilled me for everything I know, you must want something." Ryan didn't reply, and the deep cover freedom-fighter took that as a yes. "I'll help, but it's on the same terms as I have with Vakarian. I'm walking away with no strings attached and nobody trying to follow me. If that's not on the table, then you may as well shoot me now. I refuse to deal with the Alliance or C-Sec while my home rots from the inside out!"

Of all the responses Alik anticipated, seeing the N7 Magician _smile_ manically hadn't been on his list. It was also more disturbing than anything that had been on said list. The human opened his mouth to say something, but a comm. burst cut him off.

"_Commander,"_ Garrus yelled, voice flanging wildly. _"I have eyes on Balak! Orders?"_ Ryan could tell the sniper wanted more than anything to take the shot and be done with it.

"Negative, I'll be right there." He turned to the man he knew as Kril. "If I teleport you with me, that prosthetic suffer complications." He wasn't exaggerating. Anything more significant than a flesh wound would get far worse if he teleported before it healed. The Splicer King didn't even want to think of how bad it could be for anyone brought with him. He was lucky that the injuries he sustained on Feros had only damaged skin and some muscle, otherwise, that fight would have been much tougher.

"Kril" just gave the batarian equivalent of a smirk. "Do you think I trapped myself and left everything to chance? That elevator works just fine. The only problem is the metal debris that's completely blocking the door at the top. You'd need a krogan to move all that crap." His eyes narrowed. "A krogan, or an enhanced human."

Ryan glared, though there wasn't any malice behind it. "You planned for me to help you specifically."

"By now you've figured out that killing Balak and arresting him are both equally stupid. There's only one way to make this into a total victory: instill despair."

That sickening grin reappeared on the Rapture-spawn's face. "Exactly."

They casually strolled to the elevator and took it up. Halted by the debris, Ryan telekinetically hurled most of it away. The door itself, he ripped open manually. There waiting for them front and center was Balak and his hand-picked platoon of Nimbus-class extremists.

"Balak is that you? How have you been? It's been so long since you were publicly humiliated by Cole MacGrath, and I wanted to catch up. Did you lose weight?"

The Torfan Tactician would have kept going, but Balak had had enough. "Enough! I'm in control here! I have enough bombs to-" A bolt of lightning passed mere inches from the External Forces Captain's head, effectively shutting him up. A murmur of fear echoed from the remaining batarians.

"The bombs are history Balak. No electricity means no trigger. No trigger, no explosion." Cole was sounding rather pleased with himself. He'd gotten quite good at dismantling bombs during his early days on Conduit Earth, and even better once joining the Supernovas. Of course the two worst experiences that stood out were Paradise Falls and the Sierra Madre. Bomb collars were all kinds of scary. Oh, and then there was Megaton. Even Alex Mercer was giving that place a wide berth.

Balak sputtered with fury, but before he could even order a last attack, his men were dead. One took a sniper round in the skull. Another was ripped open by the knife of a Spartan using active camouflage. The third and fourth were torn asunder by a carnage blast, and the last three were destroyed by a cluster of electric grenades. The varren that had been standing loyally by their master were speared to the wall by the metal debris Ryan had moved earlier.

"Balak to crew, I need reinforcements!" His men had been dead for mere seconds and he was trying to find more that would waste their lives.

Ryan laughed sadistically as he stepped ever closer to the batarian maniac. "Oh, did I forget to mention the fate of your cruiser?" He keyed his omni-tool. "Alex, how are things over there?"

The sound of metal on flesh was audible through the speaker. _"That's the sound of the last pirate dying. Looks like Balak's gonna need a new crew."_

Ryan cut the feed and sneered at Balak. "We launched an escape pod from our ship. You're too predictable, four eyes. Even in this instance, your men couldn't resist the urge to make a quick slave grab. Then the 'helpless' victim turns out to be the Animal of Akuze four of my associates, so you're rather short-staffed at the moment.

"Don't let him destroy the ship!" Alik yelled. "There's a small shuttle on that cruiser, and I can use it to leave."

"Stay out of this you worthless- uurgghh!"

Balak never finished insulting "Kril" before Ryan landed the first of many less-than-lethal blows. Turning to the room, he hissed, "Everyone except for 'Kril', leave know. What I'm about to do is brutal even for the Spectres."

"Yeah," Cole deadpanned. "I'm sort of stuck here until you can teleport me back."

Ryan shrugged. "Suit yourself." Without even looking, he sidestepped Balak's pistol and grabbed the gun hand by the wrist. As if it were a perfectly normal thing to do, he snapped the extremist's arm at the elbow, forcing it in the opposite of its intended direction. The man cried out in pure agony.

"Record every moment of this," he ordered to Kril. There was no emotion in the Splicer King's voice. He was back in a world he knew well. It was a place where the romantic notions of a "good guy" didn't exist, and two wrongs did in fact make a right.

Alik started to record the display, and Ryan smirked. "Space that cruiser and bring the shuttle over here Alex, but take your time. I've got to make my point to the Batarian Hegemony." He didn't wait for a response before cutting the line again and focusing all his attention on Balak.

"You wanted to make humans look weak?" A snap of his fingers, and Balak's lower left eye was cooked inside its socket. While the man was staggering in pain, Ryan brought out his hooks. "If this had succeeded, it would have inspired pirates everywhere to try attacking our colonies!" He emphasized the point by knocking Balak to the floor and using the hooks to keep him there. "Well I have a little 'inspiration' your entire government." He placed one foot down on Balak's good arm and broke his hand right through the gauntlet. "If I may be so bold as to rip off Aria T'Loak…" he sent an electro bolt coursing up and down the batarian's prone form before glaring at the camera that was capturing all of this.

"Don't. _Fuck. _With humanity!"

* * *

_X57_

_Main Facility_

_One hour later_

It had taken some time to straighten everything out, but that was part of the goal. While Cole was calming everyone down, Ryan slapped a breather helmet on Balak and some omni-gel to fix any armor breaches before tossing the scum into the back of "Kril's" commandeered shuttle. What happened now wasn't his problem, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. "Kril" gave him a two-eyed wink and said that the Commander was alright… for a genetically altered human. Ryan severely doubted that this was the last he'd see of the one-armed freedom fighter.

Atwell stopped him on the way out, grateful for everything that they had done. He insisted that Ryan have one of the top-quality armors as a thank you. Ryan looked at the engineer's stock before his eyes widened. "You're carrying this kind of armor for quarians too?"

_SSV Normandy_

* * *

_Engineering Deck_

_Drive Core_

_Thirty minutes post-mission_

The Splicer King had a handful of coping mechanisms for his self-loathing. There was drinking, smoking cigarettes, and cracking wise to everyone around him for starters. Then there were the unsavory methods: killing and womanizing. Ryan was a shameless flirt in his early career as a Supernova because he didn't have to deal with any of his conquests after the end of a job. The killing was just as effective, temporarily freeing him from all worries as he carried out the one task necessary to survive in Rapture.

Of course, that led to his current problem. Lately, he'd been drinking far less, never smoking, and joking _with_ the crew instead of at their expense. Any killing was done on the job, and even after his recent regression into complete "Splicer Mode" combat, he'd felt more guilty than satisfied. And the womanizing? It was practically gone from his life at the moment.

And those last two facts were completely because of one individual. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was somebody that Ryan had become quite fond of. Out of some subconscious desire for her respect, the Son of Rapture had started to become a moderately decent person. He knew it was more than respect, but the Splicer King actively ignored this fact to make it hurt less in the end.

Of course he could read her like a book. He knew what she felt for him, and it was killing him inside to lead her on. What other choice did he have though? As much as Shepard's territory had grown on him, the job wouldn't last forever. Eventually, the galaxy wouldn't need them anymore, and they'd be sent off to a different job for a different Unique. Then whatever Alex was planning when he started getting cozy with Liara, it was doomed to end badly.

At first, he dreaded that day because it meant facing an enraged Unique Kessler. That had been when he'd risked his "daughters" to earn some goodwill with Cole. Now? Now Ryan was more concerned for what Tali would think of him when the truth came out. Just how much would she hate him when it was announced that the "Torfan Tactician" was here for glorified cosmic pro-bono work.

And thus, he was currently trying to preemptively buy her respect with some of the highest quality armor in the galaxy. Supernovas were great in many ways, but nobody could ever claim that they were model citizens.

On the slight upside, Tali was genuinely happy with the gift. "Commander, if you keep this up, I'll end up as the most spoiled quarian in the galaxy!"

Ryan smiled warmly. "If it means I don't have to pull your ass out of the fire then commence the spoiling."

His quarian mechanic punched him "gently" in the shoulder, and he feigned injury. Their quiet little moment was interrupted by Joker, and Ryan wanted more than anything to see just how brittle the pilot's bones were.

"_Hey Commander, Terra Nova just sent an invite to their 'saviors' for a full scale celebration. With food! And drinks! And chicks that pretend to like me! Please?"_

Ryan wanted to say no. He really wanted to say no and just get some rest. Getting harassed by the paparazzi and hailed as a savior wouldn't change a damn thing. He was still the Machiavellian abomination that left a trail of fire and blood in his wake.

Then he looked down at Tali. She hadn't been to any large social gatherings, and she certainly had never been thanked like this. The Chief had told him about the turret hacking business, and Ryan had been impressed.

Maybe he didn't deserve to be lauded as a hero, but she certainly did. The whole crew did. Putting on a smile, he sighed. "Get this ship turned around and find your Alliance dress blues. If you're dragging us to a party, you get to smile for the camera too."

Tali's eyes widened. "You bosh'tet! I'm covered in grease and oil! How am I supposed to go out in…" She stopped and looked down at the case of shiny new armor that Ryan had just given her. "Oh… right."

Word spread fast throughout the ship. Wrex chose to go, but only to watch people squirm. Alex went partially for the same reasons, but also because he wanted to take Liara somewhere that didn't involve guns. Thus, Liara eagerly agreed before going to see if Ashley had anything she could wear for the occasion. The human woman grinned at the chance to do something "girly" on a ship with too many alpha males. Downing a tablet for his migraines, Kaidan agreed to join in too. Cole instantly agreed to go. Even all this time after Empire City, he still needed to have an occasional reminder that the people no longer hated his very being. The Master Chief even promised to go, but only if he got to remain inside his armor. This was an acceptable deal, especially since nobody would know it was him without it. What they didn't know was that Cortana would be keeping track of the paparazzi for anyone that might be a little too curious about the Supernovas.

En route to Terra Nova once again, they prepared not for battle, but for something far crazier: the public.

* * *

**And that's the end of that. I'll pick up here next time, and you'll get an idea of the varying opinions people have about the **_**Normandy**_** team. And I mean the whole team, not just the Supernovas. I'll also speed through the Colony of the Dead section since it's really not that much outside of the Cerberus connection. Then we're off to Virmire!**

**No bonus this time. If have to pace myself or I won't have anything left to do in the sequels!**

**Read, review, and enjoy.**


	36. Folks Need Heroes

**I am very sorry it took so long to get this posted. RL got in the way. When I say "got in the way" I mean it stood in front of me yelling **_**"You shall not PASS!"**_** It was that bad.**

**Nameless guest reviewer asked: "On Virmire, couldn't Alex Mercer stand with the nuke and eat something to heal later?" I actually considered this. There's just one massive hole in such a plan: The bomb Alex survived in NYC was underwater and over a mile away. To properly guard the one on Virmire, he'd be less than forty meters from the center of the explosion. Alex is good, hell he's great, but get serious. He'd be **_**vaporized**_**. There would be nothing left to regenerate **_**from**_**. Thus, my favorite scene in Prototype can't happen on Virmire. However, I guarantee Alex will pull this trick at some point in the sequels. Be patient, and wait for the awesome.**

**NOTE: I'm really, really bad at descriptions of clothes. Since they're all getting fancy for this chapter, I'll do my best, but set your expectations a little low on the detail.**

**ANOTHER NOTE: Looking back over this chapter, I realize I could have done a lot better. These two weeks have been hard on me though, so I have some excuse. Be easy, and know that I'll give you the regular quality of awesome next time.**

**LAST NOTE: **_"This is either thought or background gossip."_ _This, w__ithout the quotations, means something else at the very end of the chapter. **"This is a flashback quote."**_

**That's all the notes I have today! Enjoy the feature presentation.**

**Summary: The team's reputation precedes them. People fear what they don't understand, and that makes freaks and aliens downright terrifying. The crowd whispers when they think nobody else can hear, but the crew of the **_**Normandy**_** does hear. They hear every last word. **

**Spoilers: Final Fantasy VII reference, and spoilers for Fallout, KotOR, and TOR**

**Disclaimer: *Pulls out shotgun* MINE! *Lawyer pulls out contract* …Fine. Not mine!**

* * *

Folks Need Heroes

_SSV Normandy_

_Crew Deck_

_CO Quarters_

_Docked in Scott, capital of Terra Nova_

With the sole exception of Master Chief, everyone was dressed to impress. This was their first appearance as recognized heroes, after all.

Though normally for less pleasant reasons, Ryan was accustomed to public events. As he straightened the tie on his N7 service uniform, the Splicer King tried to recall the last time he went to a party where nobody was killed, robbed, blackmailed, or framed by the end of the night. Sighing, he realized he still might have to work the crowd at some point.

Cole was, for all intents and purposes, dressed like a Shinra Turk. The only thing missing was a tie, as he'd learned from experience that sparks and loose articles of clothing didn't mix. He also knew that showing up in his everyday attire would anger the stuffed shirts, and he'd prefer to avoid that particular headache. Master Chief was a lucky SOB right now.

For Alex, it had been a simple matter of shifting his form into a tuxedo that Ambassador Udina would kill to have. His hood disappeared, and the short brown hair concealed beneath it was now slicked back with a mere thought. (**A/N: For Alex's pre-hood hairstyle, go to the Karen Parker page on the Prototype wiki, and there's an image with him at the bottom.**)

It was a simple matter, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Shifting without a functional purpose, like he was right now, made him feel exposed. "Why am I doing this again?" the virus grumbled.

Ryan huffed. "You went local during a job, and now you have to look nice for Liara."

Alex twitched. "This is coming from the man that won't quit stringing along a certain quarian?"

Eager to stop the argument while nobody else was in earshot, Cole lightly zapped both Supernovas with a few sparks. "You're dead wrong, and you know it," he hissed. "Nobody has ever stayed perfectly detached while completing their job for the Uniques. If we're not personally invested, then we don't have any true motivation, and everything goes to shit by halftime."

The Splicer King shook his head. "Not me. I've succeeded plenty of times without making it personal."

"Oh really?" Cole chuckled. "How many of those 'successes' are your black ops crap?" Ryan said nothing. "Exactly. You keep that strictly business to ease your conscience. On every legit job, you've had to make it personal, just like us."

The Prime Conduit rounded on Alex. "I get that you're serious about Liara, bro. I do. But keep in mind what that involves for people like us. Nothing forbids us trying to have normal lives, but nobody in the Supernovas has ever succeeded either." He shook his head grinning. "But if my best friend in this organization is too stubborn for death, I'm pretty sure he can make something as boring as a relationship work out just fine. Enough depressing crap, let's party."

The trio stepped into the mess, and saw only Wrex and the Chief, both wearing their usual armor. The rest soon filed in, all looking very fine.

Kaidan wearing his own officer's uniform, though it lacked Ryan's N7 insignia. Ashley took the rare celebration as a chance to go out in a dress. It was simple, blue, and definitely easy on the eyes. Garrus was wearing the turian equivalent of formal attire. Joker, on crutches, actually made an effort to wear dress blues over his leg braces, but he drew the line at shaving his precious beard.

Then Liara stepped out. After fussing with Ashley, the marine actually found something in the archaeologist's wardrobe. It was a modest, yet quite stunning, red and purple dress. (**A/N: Think of what she wore if you invite her to the ship after LotSB.**)

Alex looked at her and grinned. "I think I know where that number came from." During her search for anything that would connect to Ryan and his Prothean vision, she requested funds to get a certain data packet from a salarian in the Terminus systems. The predator had "inherited" more liquid assets than he knew what to do with, so this was no problem at all. Now it seemed she'd made a personal acquisition with his fortune as well.

The asari blushed and looked down. "It seems that death made 'Elanos Haliat' a very generous man."

"It appears 'he' has good taste," the virus retorted without missing a beat. Maybe he wasn't a textbook narcissist anymore, but his ego still needed the occasional stroking. It was also his easiest method of giving a compliment at the moment. He was out of his element enough already.

Everyone was ready to go… except for the absent quarian. Ryan and Garrus looked at each other before nodding and leaving for engineering. On the way down the elevator, Garrus sighed. "What do you think we're walking into?"

Ryan frowned. "Not a damn clue." He could read Tali like an open book, but when it came to her personal motives, the girl was a complete mystery. He suspected it was due to their greatest difference:

Whereas the Splicer King grew up in a world literally drowning in greed, the quarian mechanic was instinctively selfless. The closest personal desires he could decipher were her Pilgrimage and making geth die. Everything she did was for the good of the Fleet, just as was expected from every member of her race. Naturally, that made certain aspects of her life more difficult to read than others.

That's when it hit him. "She doesn't want the attention." Garrus looked at his human mentor, mandibles twitching in confusion. "Back at the start of all this, you blamed Tali and her people for creating the geth in the first place." As the turian shifted awkwardly, Ryan shrugged. "Maybe you two have gotten past your differences, but on a colony filled with humans, I suspect many others share that original sentiment. And Tali knows it." The Tactician gave a half smile. "Time for _you_ to be contrite my cowboy friend."

_Down in Engineering_

Tali groaned as the doors opened. She knew that she'd locked them herself for the express purpose of staying away from the celebration. Only one person on this ship could have actually opened it. Two if she counted the Master Chief's inexplicable knack for hacking things without an omni-tool.

"Oh good, the new armor fits. Talk about the lady in red."

Naturally, her luck demanded that is wouldn't be the Master Chief. Turning around, she saw Garrus as well and her resolve hardened. "I'm sorry Commander, but I'm not going. I can't-"

"We know," Garrus interrupted. Tali cocked her head, curious to hear what the sniper had to say. "We know that you don't want the humans to treat you like dirt for being a quarian." He stood tall. "But that's not going to happen. Spirits, Tali, you're a damn hero. If you hadn't hacked those turrets, Wrex and I would have been goners, along with countless others."

Ryan nodded. "I refuse to let your actions go unrecognized, but you're free to make your own choice." He grinned more than a little wickedly. "Still, I think the man who gave me the armor you're wearing would like to thank you personally. He worked with quarians before, and he'd probably want to thank the one who saved his family."

Tali was silent for a moment as the fear of going and the guilt of staying battled inside her head. The decision was made for her when Ryan suddenly grabbed her and teleported her up to the mess hall. Standing there was everyone she'd come to trust with her life, just as they trusted her.

Wrex, the crazy head-butting uncle she'd never had. Ashley, a big human sister. Kaidan, the technical wizard with almost as much ostracism as her kind. Liara, the naïve asari with whom Tali had bonded over family troubles. Alex, the _virus_ she should fundamentally be terrified of, yet the man she trusted to properly direct his wrath when it counted. Cole, the Spectre with a knack for electrical mayhem that was beyond even her reach. Garrus, while still a turian bosh'tet, had long since become a person she could call a respected friend. The Master Chief, though silent for the most part, had trusted her enough with his beyond-top-secret armor to make minor repairs every now and then. And then there was Ryan…

The Spectre that "secretly" haunted her thoughts and dreams took this moment to speak up. "We wouldn't let anyone harass you, Tali. We take care of our own, no exceptions." He smiled warmly, a rare sight all things considered. "So how about it?"

Tali didn't hesitate this time before nodding. That was all it took for the cheering to break out. Ryan laughed. "Then tonight we party like heroes!"

* * *

_Terra Nova_

_Scott City (Capital)_

_Central Plaza_

_Courtyard Entrance_

The "red carpet" was unsurprisingly filled with cameras and reporters, all eager to get footage of or an interview with the _Normandy_ squad. Dr. Chakwas was also out with the group, but only to fuss over Joker like a protective mother.

She greatly worried over the not-so-good Doctor Mercer's promise of Jeff walking unaided in a few months. To his credit, the sociopath had asked for a sample of the pilot's blood a couple weeks ago. Whatever progress he'd made since then was unknown to her. What Chakwas did know, however, was that if Alex let Joker down, she'd tear him a new one, super powers be damned.

As for the press, they naturally had no respect for boundaries.

"Commander Ryan, what has this attack changed for the Alliance's policy on batarians? Will you be sent off to spearhead another Torfan? What can you say about your mission for the Council?"

"Dr. Mercer, is it really true that you eat people?"

"Master Chief, do you ever take of the helmet?"

"Mr. MacGrath, can you comment on the rumors of your new ice abilities? Why wasn't the public informed you could do any of this?"

"Commander!"

"Master Chief!"

"MacGrath!"

"Dr. Mercer!"

"Master Chief, does the Alliance plan to outfit the rest of its soldiers with armor like yours?"

"Dr. Mercer, is it true you killed the Matriarch mother of that asari with you?"

Those last two simultaneous questions made virus and Spartan briefly stop in their tracks. The entire place felt their nigh-tangible rage, and the questions ceased.

It was then that the swarm of paparazzi remembered just who they were pummeling with questions. These were people that killed thresher maws with their bare hands and ripped apart armies with ease. Every reporter backed up, and the remaining pictures were taken with professional courtesy – and in silence – as the team walked by toward the interior of the central plaza.

The worst was over, and now the fun could start.

* * *

_Terra Nova_

_Scott City (Capital)_

_Central Plaza_

_Pre-Ceremony Food and Drink_

No expense had been spared for humanity's newest heroes. All it took was a message to the colonial leaders that they had alien crewmembers for the food options to expand beyond the human palette. Naturally, there was something for everyone, but the kicker was dextro food and drink for Garrus and Tali. Somebody had done research. There was solid meat for the carnivorous Garrus and _flavored_ nutrient paste for Tali, along with a hearty stock of beverages for the turian and quarian to enjoy.

Cole, Ash, and Kaidan dove at the human foods, eager for an actual meal instead of the _Normandy's_ standard regulation crap. The running joke became that the two Spectres could requisition just about anything except decent groceries.

Tali was just pouring herself a drink when Liara pulled her away. "What's wrong?" she asked the asari. Liara remained silent, but dragged her to a spectacle she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Wrex, Alex, and Ryan were drinking ryncol. The three most disruptive men in space were drinking _ryncol_. "Keelah this won't end well!" the quarian moaned.

Quite the contrary, it ended just fine. Wrex limited himself to one bottle, planning to smuggle the rest back onto the ship. By some miracle, the other two men remained perfectly sober.

"Dammit," Alex sighed. "I thought if anything could actually get me drunk it would be krogan liquor."

Ryan shook his head. "Same here. I'd need another…" he ran the mental math, "twenty-five of those to even get a slight buzz."

Liara and Tali both sighed in a mix of relief and incredulity. They were both thinking along the lines of, _"That's simply not possible."_

Of course they weren't the only ones appraising the sight. Alex noticed movement in his peripheral vision, and he turned to see a pair of young women gazing intently at the famed Torfan Tactician. Reuniting with Liara, the virus guided her over to Cole and the other human squad mates. Liara watched, confused, as Alex tapped the electric man on the shoulder and nodded towards Ryan. "When they approach, you think he'll go for it?"

Cole's expression turned thoughtful. "For once I'm not convinced he will."

Liara was about to ask Alex what was going on, but he held up a hand. "Wait just a moment, Blue." As the two women sauntered up to Ryan's position, he continued. "This could get good."

The situation suddenly clicked in the archaeologist's mind. They had witnessed one of the two most famous human males in the galaxy drink an entire glass of ryncol. Naturally, they assumed his inhibitions had been significantly lowered. They were propositioning the Commander. Alex had told her that Ryan used to be a shameless flirt, though she had yet to see it for herself. Something told Liara that the virus and his electric friend were evaluating Ryan to see if that part of his life was truly over.

Tali was a mess inside, but rather than make a scene, the quarian slowly wandered back to the dextro food and drink. Regardless of how Ryan took their advances, she lost. Either he accepted, and that was that, or he rejected. That just meant his expectations in women exceeded what the quarian could hope to provide. _"Wait… what am I thinking? I'm going back home after my Pilgrimage and that's final."_ Despite telling herself this for the thousandth time, Tali knew that if Ryan so much as asked, she would stay on the _Normandy_ for as long as he wanted.

Garrus took one look over his shoulder before sighing in disappointment. The Commander couldn't possibly read her so well without knowing how Tali felt. This was just twisting the knife.

That's when Ryan surprised just about everyone. Smirking, he began rapid firing questions at the two young ladies. They ranged from an innocent "What do you do for a living?" to the more embarrassing "Why did you wait until I was 'drunk' to approach me?" Of course, the best one was probably "If I weren't a Spectre that just saved the planet, would this conversation even be happening?"

Grinning wickedly, Ryan took his leave, shattering out of existence and rematerializing beside Garrus and Tali. Sighing loudly, the Splicer King glanced at the turian sniper and quarian mechanic. "You all heard what the Illusive Man said about my past with women. That's exactly what it was: my _past_. Now I've got different priorities, and a quick lay ain't one of them anymore." Strangely, he meant it.

Garrus clicked his mandibles and nodded in approval. Tali, unsure how to take his words, remained silent. That day he bantered against the Illusive Man still bothered her. Something about their exchange had seemed off, like Ryan was actually hiding something big. But she trusted him. If Ryan said it was in the past, then it was in the past. Tonight was about living in the present.

Cole was barely able to contain his laughter as he bumped fists with Alex. The virus then placed his head over Liara's shoulder, his breath dangerously close to the side of her neck. "Blue, you just witnessed history in the making. Never in his life has _the_ Jack Ryan turned down an offer like that." The poor asari tried to concentrate on his words, but the proximity to Alex was making it impossibly hard to think. He didn't even smell like his normal bloodthirsty self. Did that change when he shifted into a tuxedo? Goddess, she could get used to this...

* * *

All further line of thought ended as the main celebratory event began and the _Normandy_'s "dream team" was called to the center of the plaza. As they sat down, the idle gossip and chatter of Terra Nova's citizens came from every direction. They had quite a bit to say about the crew.

"_What's a turian doing here? Didn't one of their kind attack us? No way can we trust them!"_

"_Who? That Vakarian fellow? He's supposed to be Ryan's protégé or something. If our own Spectre vouches for him, the bird can't be all bad."_

"_Not bad? He's a former C-Sec officer going after a rogue Spectre. That's badass._

Garrus' mandibles flared in irritation, mixed with a sliver of pride. A single turian's actions had demonized his species in the eyes of humanity. Of course, he was no better. At the beginning, he'd judged Tali and Wrex on what little skewed knowledge he possessed: the quarians built the geth, and the krogan were brutish thugs with a sterility plague. By working with them though, the sniper learned otherwise. Each race was just as complex as his own. Garrus even appreciated the little reputation he'd gained as Ryan's protégé. The abnormal human had given the turian plenty to think about over the weeks and months. Now it was making sense: Who protects civilians from the man that protects civilians? That was the problem, and now, by vowing to do things right, Garrus was pretty sure he had the solution.

"_Alex Mercer is with an asari? I thought they were all about peace? He's a damn bloodthirsty maniac!"_

"_Rumors are that he can't die, and we know the asari live for centuries. You ask me, that's not a bad match. Now shut up before he kills us and eats us."_

Alex's mouth twitched with slight amusement. At least his new relationship hadn't made him any less of a terror in the public's eyes. If somebody had told him a year ago that he'd be shifting into a suit just to please somebody else, much less go on a date, Alex would have probably snapped their neck. Now that it was happening, the Blacklight runner knew it was worth it, and so was she. Whatever happened, the virus refused to let this new… development get screwed up. If that meant stepping back and being human for a night, then so be it.

Liara still didn't feel comfortable in public the way she did at an excavation site. However, she knew that opportunities to spend time with Alex like this would be exceedingly rare. Their talks on the _Normandy_ were lovely, but this? This was the closest they would get to being normal anytime soon. Alex Mercer had entered the asari's life violently and with the subtlety of a flamethrower. Such was his nature as the most brutal predator in the galaxy. Since then, the two had become incredibly close between missions. It was cliché, but for this one night, Liara planned to forget about Saren, the geth, the mission, everything. She wouldn't blush and fumble with words. He wouldn't kill anyone (she hoped). They would simply enjoy the other's company.

"_That woman over there! That's Shanxi's granddaughter! Why would the first two human Spectres let that traitor onto their ship?!"_

"_I know right? Look, she's even working with aliens. Gramps must be so proud."_

"_Mind your tones! That woman isn't to blame for Shanxi, and you know it. I heard she helped Commander Ryan save Eden Prime, and then __**Captain **__**Anderson**__ himself put her on the roster. If that's not a vote of confidence, I don't know what is."_

Ashley sighed inaudibly. The Williams' curse still followed her, it seemed. Still, she had almost forgotten that Captain Anderson had recognized her skill. The man served in the First Contact War, already N7 at that time, so of course he knew her heritage. It didn't matter to him that her last name was Williams. He saw something in her. So did the others. Maybe the Council needed work (a _lot_ of work at that), but not the people she was serving with. Each one of them served with distinction, regardless of species. Now she understood that, human or alien, they were all just animals in the end. Animals that would get the job done and save a galaxy. Maybe her CO defied everything religion had taught her, but that didn't change the fact that he was divine intervention in a time that needed it most.

"_That's Lieutenant Alenko right? Great, now we have to be extra polite to the poor misunderstood biotics. Give me a break."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_Have you checked the extranet lately? They want attention. 'Oh look at our cult.' 'Oh we're the next stage of evolution.' 'Hey we can move crap with our minds, but not unless you hear how bad life is for us.' They just won't shut up and learn their place in society."_

"_You dumbass. Maybe __**you**__ should check the extranet. They need five meals a day at least. Implants crippled a lot of them before the stable L3s came out, so naturally life sucked. And they join cults and extremist groups because people like you force them out of honest work. Lieutenant Alenko didn't save our asses because he wanted attention. He did it because he's an Alliance marine, and a damn good one at that."_

Kaidan smiled softly. Just like Vyrnnus, Saren, and Garrus, those two humans further proved that humanity and aliens alike had their own selection of jerks and saints. Well, maybe calling Garrus a "saint" was pushing it, but that wasn't the point (**A/N: Archangel reference for the win!**). When he began this mission back on Eden Prime, he never imagined things would turn out like this. He also never imagined serving under a man that could teleport without biotics, to say nothing of the other three or all the aliens. There was something special about this team. They got off to a rocky start, coming from clashing backgrounds, but now they were a single cohesive unit that had fought countless private armies, seriously hurt the operations of a terrorist network, and saved at two (maybe three) colonies from destruction. BAaT, Conatix, Cerberus, and their ilk wouldn't disappear overnight. He served with four living examples that mad science was still going strong. But did that mean there was no hope? Absolutely not. If anyone could make this galaxy wake up and smell the damage, it was Cole MacGrath and Commander Ryan. Kaidan's smile twisted into a smirk. He realized that Alex Mercer was also good at bringing change… with all the subtlety of a dreadnaught in wartime.

"_Do we know if there's even a __**human**__ inside that giant green suit? I mean, what if it's another synthetic, just like the geth but stronger? Wouldn't more Alliance soldiers be wearing that armor if it could, you know, __**come **__**off**__? I don't trust that freak."_

"_Shut up! I'm pretty sure he can hear you. Frankly, I don't care what's in that armor. The dude saved us all from an asteroid. He's been saving us since Elysium, dammit. If you have issues with the guy, then take it up with him. I'll watch as you get your ass kicked."_

The Master Chief heard every word. By his count, that was the nine hundred sixty-two thousand, five hundred seventeenth time somebody had gossiped about him or his armor while on a job. It got old _really_ fast. Public relations hadn't been important to the Spartan thirty years ago, and they certainly weren't important to him now. Still, he remembered Sgt. Johnson's words:

_**"****Folks need heroes, Chief. To give 'em hope. So smile, wouldja? While we still got somethin' to smile about!"**_

He was a Spartan-II first and foremost. Cole and Ryan were more than welcome to being humanity's icons. The Master Chief was here to _win_. He trusted the crew to succeed. That was usually a right the Chief reserved for Cortana and fellow Spartans, and it was the most he could give to those fighting with him.

Cortana didn't like what they said about her Spartan. Good or bad, nobody understood him like she did, like Halsey did, or like his "family" in the Program did. The last thing a half-ton suit of armor brought to mind was the image of an augmented child soldier that had been killing insurrectionist and alien alike since puberty. In private, at the beginning of this job, he admitted how difficult it was to keep from instinctively shooting aliens. Now the Master Chief was working _with_ them to save mankind and possibly the galaxy. He told her early on that fighting alongside Wrex and Garrus in particular had felt like a betrayal to all his fallen brothers and sisters. They were too much like the Covenant races that had been glassing humanity for decades. Then Feros happened, and he made sure those two escaped back to Zhu's Hope while he fought the Thorian's forces in the tunnels. It was an achievement that nobody could possibly appreciate without knowing the man inside the armor. And contrary to what they whispered, his identity beneath the green suit didn't matter to them at all beyond the juicy rumor mill. It just let them point at the "freak" that saved their hides. Nothing had changed since the old days with ODST prejudice. Not a damn thing.

"_Who let that krogan in here? No way would the Alliance let a savage like that on an advanced warship. It's got to be some- what?"_

"_Shut the hell up dammit! He's looking right at us!"_

Indeed, Wrex was looking directly at the two idiots squawking like pyjaks. He wasn't annoyed, but amused. They thought _he_ was strange? They lived in a society that shunned personal strength. They saw it as a liability capable of disrupting their precious status quo. That's exactly why he joined up on this mission. Not for the pay, not for the company, and certainly not for the food. He was here for the fights and damn if Alex Mercer hadn't provided. Aside from his human looks and salarian intellect, the virus was the epitome of being krogan. And in a scientist – blood of Shiagur, a damn _scientist_ – the battlemaster had found a kindred spirit. The others had quads without a doubt, but Alex Mercer was still the first "human" to earn his complete trust. Not even his own kin had managed that. So here he was, getting thanked for killing a few batarians and wondering how long before the Citadel betrayed their newest human pets like they had the krogan.

"_That's Commander Ryan! I can't believe it! He saved us from the batarians again!" _

"_He's okay I guess. I don't know why aliens would serve in his crew. He's supposed to be Alliance. Alliance doesn't recruit aliens or modify their soldiers with his tricks."_

"_This is the Torfan Tactician, remember? He's always got a plan. Maybe his 'powers' are a little weird, and he keeps strange company, but Commander Ryan is definitely a hero."_

"_Sure, a hero that sold us out to the Council."_

The Splicer King clenched his teeth in frustration. It sucked when he had to be the icon, the image, the rallying symbol. These people didn't know him. They just knew the propaganda that came with his name. They were so wrapped up in the romantic notion of a hero that he was already doomed. Success would be exploited by the higher ups. Failure would demonize him in the eyes of over half the galaxy. Of course, while their views of him were disregarded, Ryan couldn't tolerate the slander directed at his friends. Yes, he had friends now, a family. In his eyes, they were as important as the job, and that was a different story altogether. These people, the crew of the _Normandy_, mattered just as much as the ideal of protecting a Unique's territory. This was not his usual modus operandi, and it left the Son of Rapture at a loss. The loner path ensured he was the only "good" guy at risk. Now an entire frigate and her crew had placed their lives in his hands. If they only knew the kind of man they'd trusted, it would be so much different.

Cole actually didn't even bother to listen to anyone. He'd heard it all. "Freak of nature" this, and "superhero" that. It was a joke. He'd been there in Empire City. He'd been there again in New Marais. It didn't matter what the public thought anymore. Thanks to Kessler, he was an eternal outcast. They thanked him for what he did, but they hated him for what he was. The status quo blew like that. So rather than focus on the various shades of infamy, Cole pondered something much more amusing. Alex and Liara were here. Together. As a couple. Since one of them was inexperienced with relationships and the other was a sociopath, it was impossible to predict the outcome. And then there was Ryan. Of all the women the Splicer King could develop feelings for, it had to be the one that got sick if she took her clothes off. It was baffling, but in a career built around the impossible, stranger things had happened.

The most fascinating part was something that only the conduit had realized. That look in Alex's eye while he lounged next to Liara? It was the same look Cole gave Trish back when she was still alive in Empire City. When they got serious about dating and living together, he had it all the time, and Zeke enjoyed teasing both of them about it. To see Alex Mercer look at anyone that way was both sickeningly sweet and downright creepy. Ryan? The guy was on the same path. Cole just hoped they got a better deal than he did.

"_Even a quarian serves with them? I didn't know that Spectres did charity work for thieves and gypsies. And they made the geth, so how do we know Eden Prime wasn't their fault?"_

Tali lowered her head in embarassment. Nothing would change. The galaxy would always ostracize her people. She wanted to cry.

"_Dude, eleven people are now glaring daggers at you. My advice is to shut the fuck up before they kill you dead."_

The quarian looked up, and sure enough, all of them, even Chakwas and Joker, were firing death glares at anyone whispering negatively about Tali. They hadn't been kidding. They looked after each other like family. A crazy family, perhaps, but they had shown her more care than her father ever had. She wanted to cry again, but this time with happiness. This would make for an amazing Pilgrimage story when she returned…

She would be leaving this wonderful ragtag family behind when she brought back a Pilgrimage gift to the Fleet. This wouldn't last, but Tali didn't care. If she had to leave behind the best friends anyone could make simply to please her father, then the mechanic swore to enjoy the time she had left with them. Right now that meant sitting proud in public, just as much a hero as Commander Ryan.

Except she didn't think Ryan wanted to be a hero. He flaunted, and he strutted arrogantly, but that was all for show. He wasn't humble by any means. Tali could have sworn that Ryan didn't believe he earned the title of "hero" even after all he'd done for the galaxy.

"_What are you hiding, Commander?"_ Tali thought to herself.

Joker heard a few of the usual cripple remarks, but that didn't mean crap anymore. He was the best. He'd proved that by sneaking onto the _Normandy_ and joyriding her without anything that resembled authorization. The helmsman evaded fighters attempting to disable him all the way around the Citadel and back to the docks. Joker had originally done it to prove a point: that he was just that damn good, and as such, he deserved to pilot the _Normandy_. When the brass actually took him seriously and let him fly the ship legally, it was his greatest dream come true (well, except for other fantasies that need not be mentioned aloud).

Now he piloted the champions of humanity around the galaxy, dropping them out of the hangar to kick bad guy ass. Maybe they were crazy powerful in a fight, but without Joker, they'd never make it _to_ that fight in the first place. Jarheads and super-freaks alike needed a pilot more than they ever realized, and the Flight Lieutenant took a great deal of solace in that one fact.

The speeches of humanity's steadfast nature finally ended, and the festive atmosphere resumed. Alex, in a move that surprised everyone, dragged Liara onto the makeshift dance floor in the plaza. He had "learned" plenty of dances in his time, and Liara was a quick study as usual. They may have gotten a few weird looks, but for that moment, it didn't matter. This was a chance to be normal, and neither one planned on wasting it. Maybe it was the ryncol after all, or maybe Alex really was going soft, but right now Liara looked amazing. He wanted to finally answer her question about his humanity's worth, but he figured it could wait until they were alone.

Cole grinned before turning to the rest of the group. "Find something to do people! This party is for us!" That was all it took to ease any doubts remaining from earlier.

For the rest of the night, there was no mission, and no job. No Council or Uniques to answer to at the end of this mess. There was just the simple joy of being in each other's lives.

* * *

_New Solara_

_Station of Nostalgia_

_Unique Exile, known to her friends as Meetra Surik, laughed at the spectacle. This was a familiar sight to many a Unique. At her side were the Hero of Tython and Courier Six. Watching from the opposite side of the room was 101 and, of course, the great Commander Shepard._

_Six laughed. "These were the kind of parties thrown after the Battle of Hoover Dam. I miss those days. I miss my friends too."_

_The Hero of Tython nodded. "Such festivities were uncommon for Jedi, but I too miss my companions."_

"_Oh please," Revan scoffed. "I was at plenty of these kinds of parties, and so was the Exile. Rule number twelve of the _Ebon Hawk_: You can always find somebody drunk, playing pazaak, or otherwise causing trouble on that ship. The galaxy laughed at our efforts, and we still came out on top."_

_Surik grinned. "I won't deny the insanity of the _Hawk_. She attracted misfit crews and Uniques quite frequently it seems."_

_Commander Shepard just leaned against the ethereal wall and sighed. "I will see your _Ebon Hawk_ and raise you a _Normandy_. Terra Nova was a hard call, and I'm glad they pulled it off so well."_

_Courier Six was no longer laughing. "It won't be that easy in the future. Supernovas can't perfect our stories, only change them."_

_The Savior of the Citadel looked up at the Mojave Master. "I know. And it scares the __**hell**__ out of me. They have no idea what's about to hit them."_

* * *

_**Twelve Days Later**_

_Chasca_

_Planet Surface_

_Triple-Location Strike_

It had been almost two weeks since the events of Terra Nova. In that time, the extranet had been flooded with gossip about each and every one of the _Normandy_ team. The galaxy's opinions were both good and bad. Now though, the team realized it didn't matter, as they knew who they were already.

Joker swept through the stratosphere, preparing to drop his favorite psychotic bunker buster on a mad bunch of husks.

_Pilot_

Dropping out upside down, Alex dove straight into the southern structure, crumpling the entire building and ninety percent of the husks. The remaining ten percent were killed by the groundspikes that the virus sent up.

_Killer_

"I thought the spiking was nothing new for you freaks! You got impaled once already, so what's different the second time?!"

As the northern structure came into view, Cole surfed the _Normandy_ down.

_Electric Man_

As they got closer, he leapt off, gathered massive electricity in his palms, and blew apart the countless husks groaning like mechanical zombies. The Mako landed a few meters behind him and blew the stragglers apart with its cannon and turret. The passengers stepped out and prepared for battle. Liara, Kaidan, and Wrex entered first, laying down biotic combinations. Liara would use singularity. Wrex would detonate it with warp. Kaidan would fire off a throw field while they recovered.

_Asari Scientist_

_Human Sentinel_

_Krogan Battlemaster _

Ashley and the Master Chief followed, shotguns roaring. They blew apart anything the biotic trio had left behind while Cole stood watch outside. The Williams woman was quick on the draw, and the Spartan was even quicker, ensuring he didn't get caught in a husk electricity blast.

_Human Marine_

_Super Soldier_

The northern structure fell before their efforts, and all that remained was the science station. Ryan teleported there with his own squad. The Son of Rapture tore through husk after husk, utilizing every weapon and plasmid he thought could possibly work. One got too close, only to attack a decoy rigged with a fiery cyclone trap.

_Operator_

Garrus was in too close for proper sniping, but after batting a few away with the butt of his rifle, the turian fired a concussive shot and returned to putting a round between each of the husks' skulls.

_Turian Agent_

Tali refused to get cornered. While lacking a neural shock application, she could still overload their electric pulses. Proceeding to do exactly that, she gunned down the mechanical nightmares with her shotgun.

_Quarian mechanic _

That was it. They were done. Ryan checked the logs, and sure enough it had been Cerberus. He swore in anger. "They turned this place into a hive of husks in the interests of science. Bastards!"

"_Well if it makes you feel better,"_ Joker radioed in, _"The Council's trying to contact you. It looks like a lead on Saren finally."_

From the other end of the valley, Alex gave a war cry. "Alright!"

Cole chuckled. "Let's go get that son of a bitch!"

The Chief remained silent, but Cortana popped up on his HUD. "Let me guess: you need a weapon?"

_Team_

* * *

**Again, I really didn't like how this chapter turned. I am so sorry about how weird it may seem, but my days haven't been all that pleasant. On the bright side… it's time for Virmire!**

**I have a short bonus this week (Warning: ME3 spoilers):**

_Citadel_

_Presidium_

_Cerberus-Controlled territory_

Alex was weighing his options of catching up with Ryan and that freak with the sword when he felt it. Instinct told him to duck, and that's exactly what the virus did. Two yellow ribbons of biotic energy scythed through the air from behind, just missing Alex's head.

Turning around, the predator saw yet another Cerberus science experiment. He knew from the operatives he'd consumed that this "Dragoon" was part of Project Phoenix, meant to create stronger biotics.

The elite Cerberus soldier attacked a second time with his biotic lashes, but Alex had already jumped out of range. "Nice whips," the virus taunted, arrogantly displaying his own whipfist. Punching a hole in the armored Dragoon's chest with his prehensile limb, the sociopath grinned. "Mine's bigger."

Yanking his whipfist out and shifting back to a normal arm, Alex leapt up to a better vantage point and activated his Prothean vision. The assassin's trail mixed with that of the rest of the Council, Udina, and humanity's most recent Spectre inductee. The pieces fell together easily for the genius Blacklight runner.

"So that's where you're headed," he snarled. Wasting no time, the hunter began running straight up the nearest Presidium wall.

He didn't like the Council. At all. But no way in hell was that Cerberus ninja cyborg wannabe killing them before he did.

"Especially with a damn nodachi," Alex grumbled to himself while scaling the tower. "Seriously, who uses _swords_ in 2186?"

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	37. Another Day in Paradise

**Welcome to the Virmire arc. Everything you know will soon get turned on its head.**

**Nukeman (guest reviewer) asked (paraphrased): "What's the difference between Supernovas and Uniques? Why is Revan a Unique and Master Chief a Supernova, etc?" Good question, though I've already answered it with the entirety of Chapter 2. This is the bottom line people: Supernovas come from relatively linear games (read: stories), and the Uniques are mostly from RPGs with a lot of ambiguous choices involved. Normally, that would put Cole and Ryan in the Uniques category, but remember that Kessler and the real Jack Ryan are already filling those positions. It pains me to simplify it like that, but you asked.**

**Ray (guest reviewer) asked (Warning! Spoiler): "Cole should kill Kai Leng because they're true opposites and because Leng killed…" Okay stop right there. I appreciate the thought, but don't assume you know anything about what will go down in my version of ME3. That was a teaser, and I purposefully I left out all names except Leng and Ryan. You have no idea who else is in that room. For all you guys know, Cole is standing in the background playing air guitar. Also, when did I ever state that Leng would kill anyone? Like I said, assume nothing that I haven't explicitly described or referenced. **

**The poll is now closed, and the landslide victory has spoken! Don't rage quit until somebody actually dies though. I think I've earned that much.**

**IMPORTANT: There is a lot of original dialogue at times. It's not because I'm lazy. It's because the words here are so emotionally charged, and I didn't want to detract from what others were saying. Kirrahe's speech is there, but Wrex's confrontation is moderately different than what it usually looks like.**

**You people keep saying how the Supernovas make everything too easy? These next few chapters will give you quite the wakeup call…**

**Summary: The Supernovas hit the beach, but it's no vacation. From a possible Genophage cure to talk of splitting up the dream team, things are going to get seriously rough.**

**Spoilers: The usual, plus Fallout and KotOR.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you see here except the contextual use of the words Supernovas and Uniques. Any historical references are based in opinion rather than fact, and I'd greatly appreciate it if nobody made a big deal over them. Oh, and I don't own Apocalypse Now.**

* * *

Another Day in Paradise

_SSV Normandy_

_CIC_

_Helm_

_Approaching Virmire_

"Gotta love the Council," Alex grumbled. "Our entire purpose for being out in the Traverse is to bring down Saren, and they wait until _now_ to let us know about the Salarian STG? Your tax dollars at work, people!"

Cole rolled his eyes. Alex was mostly just pissed about the planet's ecosystem, just like him. There was too much water surrounding the drop zone for the conduit to survive more than ten seconds. That meant Ryan and the Chief were on their own. While the water wasn't lethal to the virus, he couldn't traverse through it worth a damn. (**A/N: It's true. Check the Web of Intrigue. The Blacklight Virus can't cross bodies of water, and infected can't move through it.**) He'd be there to help the ground team, but between running along the walls and generally staying out of the deep water, Alex's combat effectiveness would be drastically limited.

"Alright Commander," Joker reported, all business like every time he was tasked to his limits. "I'll get you in underneath their radar, and you take out those defense towers."

"_Copy that,"_ the N7 Trickster replied.

Alex sighed. He knew the angle that Joker would use for dropping the Mako, and no way in hell did he plan to be in the hangar for that. Stepping into the airlock, the sociopath closed the door behind him. "Oh this hurts already," he groaned as the ship lurched.

While Alex could fool the decontamination systems that kept the _Normandy_ relatively clean, he learned that altering his biomass while in the airlock was a quick way to get himself vented. It happened when they left Feros, much to his embarrassment, and now the predator would be doing it on purpose. Shifting into his armor, the virus prepared for a wild ride.

_Contaminants detected. External decompression engaged._

**FWOOSH**

The door opened, and as the Mako came to a graceful halt on the shores of a Virmire coastline, Alex went hurtling into the far wall. He smashed into the cliff shoulder first, and something definitely made a cracking noise. Latching onto the rocks with his hands and feet, the virus was happy to see that the wall was the only thing damaged.

"Nice landing, Goose!" Naturally Ryan had taken the appropriate time to get out of the Mako and make a joke at the spectacle. Now his pride was damaged too.

Facing the Splicer King, Alex called back, "I'll scout ahead as best I can. If you need my help, I want a lay of the land first." With that, he leapt off into the distance.

Ryan chuckled and returned to the tank… only to see that the Master Chief had taken his place at the wheel. "That's low, and you know it," the Rapture-spawn growled.

The Spartan turned to face him, and Ryan could practically _hear_ him raise an eyebrow. "You drive like a madman. What did you expect?" Conversation over, the Chief floored it into the lagoon.

As they came upon a squad of drones, Alex chimed in over the comm. _"The _Normandy_ airdrops us on a __**beach**__ so we can invade the enemy's entrenched positions. Where have we heard all this before?"_

As Ashley blew apart the last drone with the cannon, she huffed. "I've read my history, Alex. There weren't any killer robots back in World War II."

Kaidan, on sensors, chuckled. "Good thing too. They would have kicked our asses back then."

As the Mako drove forward, Ryan chose not to comment on how certain versions of "back then" had ridiculously advanced technology, from genetic engineering to quantum mechanics to huge gargoyle cyborgs with domestic abuse issues. He shuddered at that last one. At least Big Daddies cared for the Little Sisters in their own creepy way. The Songbird was so bad that Elizabeth had developed Stockholm syndrome as a result.

The Splicer King was shaken from his reminiscence when the squad began trouncing yet another batch of geth drones, troopers, and rocket troopers. He even caught sight of the flattened remains of a juggernaut in the rear camera. Normally, this many hostiles would be a problem for a Mako pilot. However, there was nothing "normal" about the Master Chief in the slightest. Reacting far faster than any known organic, the Mako was practically a Warthog with exponentially more armor and firepower. And the Chief knew _damn_ well how to drive a Warthog.

"Is it just me," Kaidan noted, "or is this a little too easy?"

Ryan facepalmed. "Don't say that! It's practically tempting fate to give us a…" a massive gatehouse came into full view, "challenge." The Splicer Spectre tapped the comm. "Alex, we've got a roadblock."

"_What roadblock?"_

That was all the warning the squad got before a wall of groundspikes sank the gatehouse's sandy foundation back into the water, killing all geth in the process. _"Who says I'm bad for the real estate?"_ the virus joked. _I just created prime beachfront property in seconds."_

Everyone was stunned, even Ryan and the Chief. When the super soldier finally returned to driving, Ashley broke the silence. "I'll have to agree with the LT on this one. Either we're getting too good, or this is getting too easy."

Again, these words practically conjured up another problem. Rounding the next corner, a colossus was ready to greet them with a siege pulse.

"Dammit!" Ryan yelled as the Master Chief took evasive action. "Next person to call anything about this mission 'easy' gets my diplomatically immune foot up their ass!" He turned to the half-ton driver and said "Be right back," before teleporting out of the Mako.

"Normally, this is where I'd question our fearless leader's sanity," Ashley muttered. "These days, I just don't see the point."

"Good call," Kaidan remarked.

Ryan shattered back into existence about ten feet away from the colossus. In shallow water, he was now more powerful than the geth would expect from previous encounters. When war finally broke out in Rapture, the more opportunistic individuals began to capitalize on the angle of fighting in an _underwater_ city. Naturally, the infrastructure would take hits, resulting in leaks and floods. Scientists churned out gene tonics that enhanced the abilities of any splicer making physical contact with the water.

The Splicer King obviously had these from the beginning. The water was possibly his greatest weapon. Whether it was a puddle or the ocean, if he was standing in it, Ryan was unstoppable. Cole once noted it was like a conduit's powers; regenerating and gaining physical prowess while taking in a particular element (in this case, water). As the Rapture Raptor he once possessed deadly hydrokinetic powers that surpassed anything else in the deep sea dystopia. Even without those, he was still more than a match for this walking tank. (**A/N: Again, I'm not making this up. The "Waters of Life" tonic is what I'm referring to, and Big Sisters were shown to mentally lift water in the trailers for Bioshock 2**)

Charging electro bolts in both hands, Ryan fired two streams of blue lighting into the colossus' face. It didn't destroy it, but now the geth platform was deprived of its main weapon. Running in too close for the secondary machine gun to target him, it was all too easy from there. He placed a fiery cyclone trap on the colossus' underside, teleported away, and literally blew his four-legged adversary up. When the remains splashed back to the ground, Ryan froze the machine just in time for the Master Chief to run it over, shattering the remains and continuing along the shore.

"_Radar shows three armatures and one or two more colossi up ahead,"_ the Spartan informed him over the radio. _"Let's get it done."_

"Copy that," the Spectre responded before switching channels. "Hey Alex, can we get another assist?"

"_They've taken position among large rock columns,"_ Alex replied. _"My advice is to drive through that area __**very**__ quickly."_

Ryan paled. "Oh shit. Leave it to Alexander Mercer. Even outdoors, he'll still bring down the house!"

Engaging the various speed boost plasmids at his disposal, the Splicer King tore through the shallow water and into the cove. Heeding Alex's warning, both Ryan and the Mako group ignored the Armatures. They took a few hits, but it was nothing serious. Staying behind to fight would have been a whole different story.

Seconds after they exited the rocky T-junction, the virus glided in from above. With his hammerfists, he broke the naturally formed towers of stone and let them drop on the armatures below. Underneath that much punishing weight, the walking tanks never stood a chance.

From his elevated position, Alex spotted a colossus, out of sight, to the left of the team's objective. "That thing will murder them when they're not looking," he said to himself. "Time to even the odds."

Hurtling through the air, the predator leveled out into a glide. Coiling up once above his target, Alex plummeted straight down in his trademark bulletdive bomb. Hitting the colossus dead center, the resulting shockwave turned the surrounding beach into a crater. Sand went flying for half a kilometer but a lot of it was currently digging into the sociopath's skin. Blasting the thousands of tiny pebbles out of his body with a shift into armor, Alex sighed. "The things I do for the 'greater good'."

Meanwhile, the last remaining colossus was being a pain in the rest of the squad's ass. Fighting intelligently against two enemies, it was keeping the more accurate machine gun fire trained on Ryan while shooting at the Mako with siege pulses. Of course, when the Master Chief simply rammed it into the cliff face, backed up, and rammed it again before telling Ashley to shoot, this tactic became irrelevant.

"The Mako's taken some damage," Kaidan announced. "I can fix it, but we shouldn't just sit here waiting for the duration"

"Agreed," said Ryan. "You and I will hold the fort. Master Chief, take Ashley and scrap the geth in that next gatehouse."

"On it," they replied in tandem. Hoofing it to the geth structure, they stopped long before actually reaching it. Dropping to the ground, both soldiers pulled out sniper rifles and began picking off any hostiles in view. Ashley wasn't as good as Garrus, but she was still a damn fine shot. The Master Chief, naturally, was better. Soon the perimeter was clear, and the green giant exploded into action. Switching his sniper out for the assault rifle, he used the jets on his back to land on the top walkway. The geth, planning to ambush their attackers by the stairs, were caught off guard and cut down with ease. The destroyer tried closing in, but the Chief saved it the trouble, sacking it, pushing it into the wall, and filling its platform with holes.

"Chief," Cortana alerted him, visiting the side screen on his HUD. "I'm reading lot's of cyberwarfare activity in the control room."

"Hoppers," the Spartan deduced.

The smart AI nodded. "That room has the gate access _and_ the AA gun controls. Unfortunately, they're learning. I can counter most of the various beams, but against that many at once, including assassination rounds…"

"I think we can manage," the Master Chief replied calmly. Radioing Ashley, he gave her instructions to cover him from the hall. Then he stepped just barely inside the entrance to the room. The ghosts and sappers waiting inside were merciless, but the Chief was far worse.

Covered from behind by Ashley's sniper fire, he focused all his attention ahead. The beams served as early warnings that he could deftly avoid, and the lesser pulse rounds hardly did scratch damage to his shields. The moment an assassination beam came his way, he threw out the hardlight shield instead of dodging. Microseconds after the failed attack, the Chief took down the shield and aimed with his pistol.

Maybe "aimed" was the wrong word. With Cortana's assistance, he was shooting where the froglike platforms were _going_ to be when he pulled the trigger, thus killing them mid-leap. Repeating this process soon became tougher, as they started attacking in groups of two or three. Unfazed, the Spartan engaged active camo, swapped out for his assault rifle, and paused a few seconds before unleashing hell. Cortana was already countering their hacks and overriding their jamming. Now with an invisible target and a room full of phantom dots in its stead, the tables were completely turned on the geth cyberwarfare units. It took little more than a few rifle bursts and sniper rounds to end the skirmish from there.

Hitting the gate controls and disabling the AA guns, they left the structure as the _Normandy_ pilot made contact.

"_I'm reading that the grid is down, Sir. On approach to the salarian base camp now. Out."_

The Mako was waiting for them under the gatehouse, repaired and with Ryan at the wheel wearing a shit-eating grin. "Need a lift?" he remarked as the _Normandy_ thundered by overhead. Both soldiers remained silent as they climbed in. The second the door closed, the Mako was already moving, though with Ryan, this was hardly a surprise.

"Seriously Commander," Ashley groaned. "Were you a taxi driver in a past life?"

Ryan chuckled, though in honesty, he actually _had_ been a cabby during a job on Coruscant. It paid well for an undercover gig, though the target Revan sent him after might have disagreed with the… customer service.

They came upon a third base, but with Alex's help, that too became a non-issue. Even the Splicer King was beginning to feel optimistic about the mission at this point. And that's precisely when Joker called in again to ruin it.

"_Commander, the _Normandy's _touched down at the salarian base camp, but it looks like we're __**grounded**__."_ The pilot hated that word more than anything. It meant that somebody, somewhere, had just taken away the only thing that mattered to him. _"The salarian captain can explain when you get here."_

Cortana jumped up again on the Master Chief's HUD. "You think we'll get lucky and this is just a Council spec ops turf war?"

Pretending to think for a moment, the Spartan finally gave an eloquent answer. "No."

Ryan sighed. "Never a dull moment, huh marines?"

Three "oorahs" answered the commanding officer.

* * *

_Virmire_

_Salarian Base Camp_

Upon reaching their destination, Ryan was quite pissed to see that they were indeed grounded. Not only that, but all members of the ground team were off the ship, likely on orders from the STG boys. Realizing this wouldn't be a pretty scene, he motioned for the others to go on ahead while he contacted Alex. The last thing anyone needed was a pissed off immortal sociopath. "Any chance you can be diplomatic on arrival?"

His answer came in the form of a muffled thump behind him, and the virus entered the camp, ready to talk or terrorize as the situation demanded. Ryan sighed in minor relief and followed his associate, eager to smooth out whatever was causing issues.

Cole, Kaidan, and Ashley were all standing before a relatively imposing salarian operative. "Cole reached for his dataphone and discreetly messaged the Splicer King. _"What the hell?"_

"_I intend to find out."_

Vocal communication hadn't ceased in this time, as Ashley raised her arms in frustration. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

The STG in charge had yet to change posture. "We stay put until your CO shows their face and we can come up with a plan."

"Have you still not heard that Ryan and I are _both_ Spectres?" Cole growled. "I've got all the same clearance."

"Yes," the salarian answered, "but you're not military. I mean no offense, but without the Commander present, I simply cannot-"

Ryan showed up at this moment, and was more than happy to interrupt. "You're in charge I take it? Commander Ryan at your service." He gave a slight bow of the head before narrowing his eyes. "In the future, don't withhold any information from my colleague. The military has brought him on for past services rendered, and he knows intelligence work inside and out."

This wasn't completely false. Cole's life before the Supernovas had involved the NSA, FBI, DARPA, CDC, and even official military for a brief time. He'd been on the black list, and he'd served as a civilian asset. This far into his work for the Uniques, the conduit was very knowledgeable of agency playbooks and inner workings. He didn't like it, of course. Cole usually said this experience just numbed the pain of getting inevitably screwed.

Regardless, the STG submitted. "Apologies, Commander. There's just never been a civilian Spectre in Council history. He'll get everything you do." Returning to business, the operative huffed. "I'm Captain Kirrahe. Third Infiltration Regiment, STG. You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Your ship attracted the attention of every AA gun for ten miles, to say nothing of the denizens that own them."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Send me the coordinates and those guns are history."

Kirrahe held up a hand. "Nobody's going anywhere until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested."

The next few moments were tangibly awkward. Finally Kaidan broke the silence. "We… are the reinforcements."

Just when Alex thought a salarian's eyes couldn't get any bigger, Kirrahe proved him wrong. "What?! You're all they sent?! I told the Council to send a _fleet_!"

Cole streamed lightning over his right arm, Alex shifted to his blade, and Ryan set his hands on fire. "You were saying?" the Splicer King deadpanned.

To his credit, Kirrahe took the new development in stride. "After losing half of my men reconnoitering this place, it's hard to feel optimistic. Still, four army-killers are a step in the right direction."

Satisfied, the Supernovas went back to "normal" as Kaidan pressed for answers. "So what have you found?"

Kirrahe's expression hardened again. "Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

Again, Alex couldn't resist. Pointing down, he said "beach". Pointing to the ship, he said "_Normandy_". He finished by pointing into the distance and saying "fortified position". Looking to the rest of the group, the virus grinned. "I can't be the only one finding this humorous." (**A/N: Bioware, you sneaky people.**)

Fixing the sociopath with a glare, Ryan asked the salarian captain what exactly Saren was researching. Kirrahe shook his head in something akin to disbelief. "He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan."

Heavy footsteps came closer as Wrex became very interested in the conversation. "How is that possible?"

Everyone in the camp was thinking the exact same thing: _"Oh __**shit!**__"_

Kirrahe still remained calm. "Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the Genophage."

"He what?!" Alex hissed. "How? Why?"

The salarian shrugged. "They make excellent shock troops, and they'll follow his command. This facility and its secrets need to be destroyed."

Wrex growled. "Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are _dying_. This cure can _save_ them." Everyone's terror slowly got worse."

Captain Kirrahe didn't budge. "If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. They'll overrun the galaxy once more, and this time nothing will keep them from winning. We can't make the same mistake again."

Alex buried his head in his hands. He'd witnessed a lot of stupid things in his life, but calling the krogan uplift a mistake _in front_ of a krogan battlemaster was easily among his top five.

Wrex got up close to Kirrahe angry as hell, and for once the STG operative actually looked afraid. "We are not a mistake!" Rather than kill the amphibious soldier, he just stormed off in fury.

Regaining his composure, Kirrahe gave the sulking battlemaster a nonplussed look. "Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with."

Alex rolled his shoulders back and forth. "I've got this. Everyone just stay the hell away, and for the love of anything holy, keep your mouths shut." That was Kirrahe's cue to leave and think of a new strategy. The rest of the team followed the virus from a distance.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

Apparently, Wrex was taking his anger out on the ocean. Cole turned to Ryan whispered, "We're sending an omnicidal sociopath to calm down a pissed off, eight hundred pound lizard with a shotgun. What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

_Virmire_

_Salarian Camp_

_Standoff_

Alex approached his brooding friend carefully. Violence was his forte, not peaceful solutions. Still, he felt Wrex deserved better than the "kill the problem and move on" approach.

Wrex heard Alex approach. "You've consumed other krogan, Alex. You of all people know that this isn't right." He glared at the hooded hunter. "If there really is a cure," his voice was thick with countless emotions, "we _can't_ destroy it."

"And you of all people know what would happen if that cure made it off world," Alex countered. "Combine this indoctrination shit with Saren's natural charisma, and every krogan in the galaxy would be fighting for galactic enemy number one."

Wrex growled. "Enemy? If this cure makes him an 'enemy' then the line between friend and foe is getting pretty damn blurry."

"I've looked at the Genophage, Wrex! I've _seen_ it in the krogan biomass I've consumed. There's no possible way Saren could have made something that complex in secret. Unless the Salarian Union randomly decided to back him, or he somehow got a few krogan females off of Tuchanka with nobody noticing, that turian bastard is probably lying through his mandibles!"

"What if Saren isn't lying? What if it's real? You see why I can't afford to ignore this?!" Wrex bellowed, unable to think clearly with the current stakes. "This is the fate of my entire _species_ we're talking about!" The battlemaster became quiet as he backed a few paces from the virus. "I've been loyal to you so far, 'Supernova'." That particular title drop was a sign he was becoming dangerously unhinged. "Hell, you've done more for me than actual family. But if I'm going to follow you for one more step…"

Wrex grabbed his shotgun and pointed it at Alex. "I need to know it's for the right reasons." The ultimatum had been made.

The camp started buzzing with chatter, gasps, and more than a few guns drawn in response. Cole sighed as a vicious wave of nostalgia overcame him. He'd been in both men's position at New Marais. If he used the RFI, all humans would be cured, but the conduits would die. If he sided with the Beast, conduits would live, but every single regular human was doomed. The worst part? He went into that choice not even sure if the RFI would work, but he'd seen firsthand that John's method of activating the conduit gene saved lives, albeit fewer. This was going to be tough.

Alex rounded on gawking crowd. "Would you people put the guns away? I've got this under control."

Prey species and predator stood silent for a moment. Alex shrugged. "What are you gonna do Wrex? You know that shooting me will just-"

**BOOM**

The virus hissed in pain as mass-accelerated snowblind rounds broke a clean hole right through his gut. Staggering weakly, he held up a hand to the many people watching. "Don't shoot dammit! I'm fine! Let me fucking handle this!" Hesitantly, they backed down, though all Supernovas present kept on high alert. Ryan had a hand resting on a hook, and Cole was ready to drop the sky on Wrex any second now. The Master Chief prepared to bring out his sniper rifle, and if the krogan made another wrong move, it was over.

Alex, painfully aware that his body couldn't properly regenerate against Bose-Einstein condensate, stood tall regardless. "Smart planning Wrex, but you know it's not enough. If we fight each other, you _will_ die. Are you that committed to something that may not even be real?"

Urdnot Wrex made a rumbling noise in the back of his throat. "It's worth it."

To everyone's complete surprise, Alex Mercer smiled. The man currently lacking intestines was _smiling_. "Then let's call Saren's bluff together. If it's real, I'll hand it over and we kill Saren. If not, then we still kill Saren, only with more creativity." The virus held out his hand. "Deal?"

"I want to trust you, but what about the salarians and the Council?" Wrex was struggling with the idea that there may actually be a future for his people.

Alex peeked out from underneath his hood. "Let me worry about that. Assuming the cure exists, let me offer a warning: start another Krogan Rebellions, and I'll infect your race with something that makes the Genophage look downright mild. That's my first, last, and only offer, and it expires immediately. Make your choice."

The seconds ticked by, seeming like hours. Finally, Wrex huffed and put away his shotgun. "Done, but on one condition: When we find Saren, I want his _head_."

"Get in line," Alex retorted without missing a beat. "Grab the HE shotguns and two Strikers from the armory. We're going in heavy."

* * *

_Virmire_

_Salarian Base Camp_

_Main Tent_

The salarians were in awe. He'd talked down a krogan. The Animal of Akuze, legendary for murdering first and asking questions never, had talked down a krogan! After the krogan shot him! Only Kirrahe didn't seem overly impressed. Compared to what Specialist Solus used to do on a regular basis, such scenes were almost mundane. Emphasis on the "almost". People usually didn't survive a point blank shotgun blast before proceeding to win an argument.

Finally beginning to heal, Alex walked away from his friend in satisfaction. Liara quickly rushed to his side. "Goddess, Alex. What if he hadn't listened? What if he'd shot you in the head?"

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't speak for Wrex, but I'm fairly certain it would have hurt."

That broke the tension instantly. Glad to still be a tight-knit team, it wasn't long before they laughed like one again.

Kirrahe returned at this point, bringing the serious mood back with him. "Thank you for speaking with the kr-" he stopped when Alex gave a cautionary look. "With Urdnot Wrex. This assault is going to be difficult enough already, even with all of your abilities."

"What's the plan?" Cole and Ryan asked simultaneously. They then stared at each other in minor confusion before returning to business.

"We're going to convert our ship's drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance," Kirrahe explained. "Crude, but effective."

Alex shivered. "You know, maybe Wrex has the right idea. Suddenly blowing up the base isn't a good plan." Everyone looked at him critically. "I'm kidding," he defended, "Mostly…"

Ashley frowned. "How is this 'difficult' at all? We drop the nuke from orbit and call it a day."

"Unfortunately," Kirrahe replied, "the base is too well fortified against that very tactic. We can't airdrop it without getting shot down. The only answer is infiltration. If a team can get inside the base, disable the AA guns, and eliminate ground forces, then the _Normandy_ can deliver the bomb to the ideal blast zone." (**A/N: "Too well fortified" my ass. That thing blew up an eighth of the damn planet. Just saying.**)

"Storm the castle it is then," Ryan said.

Cole shook his head. "I'm more than happy to kick ass, but we're not exactly subtle people."

Kirrahe sighed. "Nor do we have the numbers for a straight up fight. But my men can still make it look that way."

Kaidan looked suspicious. "What are you saying?"

The Captain gave a grim smile. "I'm going to divide what's left of the Third Infiltration Regiment up into three teams. We'll hit the front of the facility hard. While that keeps the main geth and krogan forces occupied, your "shadow" team will slip in the back."

"Wait," Cole interrupted. "You want to send all four heavy hitters through the back door? Your teams will get torn apart!"

"We're tougher than we look MacGrath," the STG assured him. "It's true though. I honestly don't expect many – or possibly any – of us to make it out alive." He looked aside hesitantly before turning his gaze on Ryan. "And though it increases the odds of my men, what I'm about to ask you isn't at all easy."

Captain Kirrahe's voice took on a pleading tone. "I need one of your people to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams."

"I volunteer," Kaidan announced without hesitation. Obviously the sentinel wanted the task.

"Not so fast LT," Ashley cut in, also eager to serve. "They'll need your help arming the nuke. I'll go instead."

"_With all due respect_, Gunnery Chief," Kaidan pulled rank, "It's not your place to decide."

Ashley snorted. "Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"

Ryan clenched his fist. He'd been planning to send the Master Chief with the salarians, ensuring they had a Supernova at their disposal, but now it was more complicated. Ashley and Kaidan both wanted the position and whoever he didn't send would be left guarding a nuke for the rest of the mission. If Ryan turned them both down for the Chief alone, they'd resent him for it.

Luckily, Cole stepped in. "Gunnery Chief! Master Chief! You two are helping the salarians, got it?" When everyone looked at him funny for making the Commander's decision, he sighed. "Ash was right saying that Kaidan would need to arm the nuke. I'm literally dead in the water, so I'll provide overwatch and aid where I can. Alex and Wrex need to get in with Team Shadow to look for Saren's alleged cure. Naturally Shadow will be led by Ryan, and he'll be bringing whoever else he wants. With Ash coordinating via radio, the Master Chief can simply sprint between each salarian team for personal aid." He shrugged. "It sucks, but it's the best we've got under the circumstances."

Ryan agreed. It definitely sucked. Something felt off about this plan. Still, he gave the ok. "You heard the man, soldiers. You're with the salarians, and Kaidan's on the bomb."

"Aye aye, Commander."

Kirrahe nodded in approval. "Allow me to speak with my men. You may wish to do the same with yours."

After he departed, Ashley sighed. "This is it, I guess." She looked at Cole and Ryan. "Don't you boys do anything more stupid than usual while I'm gone." She laughed when they feigned complete innocence.

Kaidan smiled. "We'll be fine. You'll see."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I just…" she paused, unwilling to admit to something, but nobody knew what. Giving up on voicing it, Ashley just finished with, "Good luck."

Cole frowned. "What's up, Ash?"

The Gunnery Chief sighed. "It's just weird. Going under somebody else's command. I've gotten used to working with you… All of you, even the nonhumans." Hearing her admit this was big, and everyone knew it."

Again, Kaidan tried to be reassuring. "Don't worry. We'll see you on the other side."

Snapping a salute, Ashley nodded. "It's been an honor serving with you, Commander." She smiled. "You too MacGrath."

For some reason, that feeling of his final battle in New Marais was creeping up on Cole again. This was getting too much. "Don't get all sentimental on me now, Williams. I'll be watching from any dry land I can find. Now let's start with some ass-kicking…"

Ryan smirked and caught the shotgun that Wrex tossed his way. "And end with some name-taking."

"OORAH!"

* * *

_Virmire_

_Salarian Base Camp_

_All Teams Present_

Captain Kirrahe paced back and forth before his men, prepared to give them a rallying speech. "You all know the mission and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life, but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share these concerns."

The salarian stepped down until he was no longer above his troops, but at their level, presenting himself as a peer psychologically. "We are trained for espionage. We would be _legends_, but the records are sealed." He waved away this notion, indicating that heroics meant little to them. "Glory in battle is not our way."

Attempting to remind them of what STG had done in the past, he continued. "Think of our heroes: the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot."

Ryan smirked and sent a message to Cole's dataphone. _"Been there."_

"Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts."

Another message. _"Done that."_ Cole promptly flipped off the amused Splicer King.

Kirrahe shrugged. "These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were _soldiers_."

Pulling out all the stops, the STG operative finished strong. "Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line." He stopped pacing and spread his arms. "Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we _held the line_!"

Cole, Alex, Ryan, and the Chief looked at each other, silently asking_ "Is this guy for real?"_

Stepping up to the place where he'd begun his speech, Kirrahe pointed to the sky. "Our influence _will_ stop Saren! In the battle today, we will. _Hold. __**The line**_!"

Amidst the cheering of his men, Kirrahe turned to the Supernovas. "Good luck to all of you. I hope we will meet again."

Alex growled. That "hold the line" speech had him thinking of Blackwatch and their Red Line tenacity. "Count on it."

* * *

**And you can count on hearing from me again soon. Again, I kept so much of this dialogue from the original game because it was so powerful. Seriously, I love Virmire. And don't worry about the lack of real hardcore action. There's plenty of that. Lots of drama too. I have been building up to this since the beginning, and now the time draws nigh!**

**But for now, you know the drill. Read, Review, and Enjoy! (I should really consider putting this catchphrase at the beginning.)**


	38. Of Their Own Accord

**The day of reckoning has come. No! I'm not talking about the Reapers! I'm talking about school! College is back in session, so make expectations accordingly.**

**I have three IMPORTANT notes:**

**Before reading this chapter, consider the ME2 dialogue. People repeatedly discuss the "cloning facility" on Virmire. Not only that, but Okeer and Wrex openly mock Saren, calling him a "liar/outsider" among other things. It makes sense when you think about it, and it's reinforced by Wrex's comparison of Grunt to all the other vat-grown krogan they've killed: "Not quite as big, but many." **

**Second, it would have been ridiculous for Team Shadow, which is supposed to be **_**sneaking**__**in**__**the**__**back**_**, to conveniently come across every single problem the main teams are facing. That sabotage would have made any attempt at infiltration completely pointless. For the sake of common sense, I'm writing this as if the various points of assistance were at entirely separate locations, thus requiring a new solution altogether. You'll see how it works when you read.**

**Finally, you may wonder why I constantly break the three-person team rule. Well, if you listen to your squadmates over the course of the sequels, they make it sound like everyone was present for every mission. Occasionally, you get the line that proves otherwise (like Jack at Grissom Academy), but Garrus, Tali, and often Liara will act like they'd been on the ground when Virmire, Noveria, Feros, and Ilos happened. You'll see I'm giving them a canonical excuse to act that way by physically putting them there. **

**Summary: Not since Eden Prime has there been a split like this. Watch as five different teams hit Saren where it hurts… or so they think.**

**Spoilers: This is Virmire people. You know what to expect. Also watch for SEVERE Assassin's Creed, KotOR, Dead Space, and Bioshock spoilers as you get further into the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: ASSUMING ZERO CONTROL (Oh, yeah. I went there.)**

* * *

Of Their Own Accord

_Virmire_

_Frontal Assault_

_Team Aehohr_

"Go," Captain Kirrahe whispered into his omni-tool. On his signal, the salarians of teams Aegohr, Mannovai, and Jaeto began downing the geth and krogan with assassination rounds and tech bursts. Winning a war before it started was the STG's modus operandi, but under the circumstances, they would settle for the element of surprise.

**CRACK**

Of course, a certain super soldier that redefined everything about the word "commando" was also fairly helpful. Having liberated a geth sniper of its weapon, the Master Chief proceeded to use it against more hostiles. The gun was heavy, packing enough recoil to probably shatter a normal organic's arm. Fully capable of withstanding the kick, the Chief would blow apart any priority targets and disappear like a ghost, only to reappear to begin the whole process again. He was unstoppable, and right now that was just what they needed. (**A/N: Tac Cloak plus Widow equals WIN!**)

Satisfied, Kirrahe radioed the other two groups. "Comm. check," he barked out. "Can you read me Spectres?"

"_Team Shadow reads loud and clear,"_ answered Commander Ryan, tone devoid of its usual playful arrogance.

"_Team Thunder hears and sees all,"_ MacGrath responded the next moment. While not a "team" per se, the electric man took the name as a self esteem boost. It dulled the pain of knowing that water hindered his life in ways nobody else would ever realize.

"Good," the captain responded. "We've just started our push, and your associates have already proven themselves quite talented." Kirrahe sighed. "The rest of us mere 'mortals' will do what we can to make it to the AA guns, but expect losses regardless."

"_Don't bet on it,"_ MacGrath countered. _"I'll see what I can do to make life easy for your teams and miserable for Saren's."_

Kirrahe shook his head, unable to share their impossible overconfidence. "It would certainly be appreciated." He waited a moment to track Ryan's progress before calling out, "Shadow is on the ground. Repeat: Shadow is on the ground." He radioed the two _Normandy_ allies. "Chief Williams, with Aegohr Team. Master Chief, give cover to Mannovai and Jaeto as the move into position." He cracked a wry smile. "Let's really get their attention."

Tossing a grenade into a cluster of geth, Ashley kept her assault rifle trained ahead while the team advanced. The Master Chief used his thrusters for extra acceleration, moving to assist the other teams in seconds. He opened fire long before any normal man could have scoped a target, tearing apart one geth after another. The only reason the STG operatives got to shoot for themselves was because the geth rifle was slow to "reload" after each shot.

Of course, if it meant they survived this nightmare with fewer casualties, they'd gladly accept being upstaged by a single man.

_Virmire_

_Base Outskirts_

_Team Shadow_

When Kirrahe said that Shadow was on the ground, he probably wasn't thinking literally. Still, that was how Alex took it, shoving his arm deep into the sand before tearing up nearby enemies with groundspikes. Aside from Wrex and himself, Ryan's team had Garrus, Liara, and Tali. Kaidan was busy learning how to arm a jury-rigged nuke.

Four Supernovas and two Novas, and they still had their work cut out for them. Even though Saren didn't know they were here, the geth had learned to plan accordingly. More advanced platforms were now seen in larger numbers for the express purpose of combating the most powerful "humans" to ever exist. Inevitably, they all died, but not without putting up a hell of a fight.

For once, however, Wrex didn't want a good fight. "I don't have time for this!" he yelled, barreling into the oncoming juggernaut at full pelt. Negating the return fire with barriers and sheer physical fitness (read: immunity talent), the krogan blew the massive platform apart point blank with his HE shotgun. Trading it out for the Striker, it wasn't long before many shock troopers suffered nearly identical fates. Catching Liara's singularity with his peripheral vision, he launched a warp field at it to shred any hapless victims within.

Garrus was by no means rendered useless by the hectic on-the-move environment. If anything, it was a further testament to his skill. Rather than set up with a nice perch, the turian just aimed at anything that wasn't in cover and pulled the trigger. Carrying tungsten as usual, he kept a particularly close eye on Wrex, making sure nothing ambushed the enraged battlemaster while he wasn't looking.

Tali was putting down geth with her shotgun, hacking them with her omni-tool, and enjoying every moment of it. She was aware that the stakes were high, but at the moment, all that mattered was hurting the bane of her species. They had ruined her people's lives, so ruining their day seemed like a fair trade at the very least.

As an asari, Liara wasn't built for the front lines. But sneaking in the back and tearing the base apart? The archaeologist could easily handle that. She was quick to cast biotic fields where needed, putting sledgehammer-modded pistol rounds into her trapped enemies before moving forward.

Ryan let the gloves come off for this one. Since kinetic barriers didn't exist on Rapture, his idea of winning a gunfight revolved around not getting shot in the first place. Practically dancing across the rocky walls, sandy alcoves, and steel walkways, the Splicer King kept himself too mobile and unpredictable for even an AI to land a single hit. All the while, he was tearing into their numbers. For the sake of valuable time, Ryan launched out winter blasts to freeze the machines, shattering them with either his shotgun or his telekinetically controlled combat hooks.

Of course, nobody could deny the walking one-man-army that was Alex Mercer. Shrugging off a krogan in blood rage, the virus tossed his opponent into the distance, hardly giving it a second thought as he snapped a second krogan's neck and continued on his way. Four geth destroyers tried their luck, but there was no such thing against the inhuman sociopath. Shoving each hand through a platform, Alex shifted to tendrils, pulled the other two destroyers in, and reduced the entire group to a pile of scrap metal. This was all done with a manic smile on his face.

Everyone could feel it: Saren wasn't doing the terrorizing anymore. They were.

_Virmire_

_Watchtower 1 Overlook_

_Team Shadow_

"_Mannovai is under coordinated crossfire,"_ Ashley reported on the comm. _"This kind of precision has to be triangulation from long-range turrets. Anything you can do, Cole?"_

A single radar pulse gave the conduit his destination. Partially concealed among the cliffs was a small geth outpost. Eager to help and in need of a recharge, Cole jumped from the high ground, landing several dozen meters below with a thunder-drop that fried just about everything. A single geth destroyer had been outside the blast radius. Carrying a flamethrower of some kind, it barreled toward Cole, attempting to light him on fire.

The ex-courier smirked. "Nice try." A well placed lightning bolt turned the machine into a giant scorch mark. Walking up to some high end consoles, Cole drained them dry, returning himself to full strength.

"_Looks like MacGrath scrambled their targeting,"_ Kirrahe radioed the teams. _"We've got a shot. Master Chief, move in ahead of Aegohr. Chief Williams, take the heat off Mannovai."_

Cole grunted as he began free-soloing back up the steep cliff walls. The geth knew he was here now, and they'd be looking for him. "I say bring it," the conduit muttered.

"_They're calling sat strikes!"_ Kirrahe suddenly announced. _"Jaeto, watch for comm. stations. Williams, Master Chief, can you see anything?"_

"_I'm doubling back to _

Hitting his dataphone, Cole chuckled darkly as he reached the top of the cliff. "No worries, people. Keep your heads down while I show them a _real_ sat strike…"

_Virmire_

_Base Approach_

_Team Shadow_

"Just when I'd given up hope completely," Wrex shouted from cover. "A cure for the Genophage at last!" His words were partially drowned out by the shotgun in his hands, but the message was clear enough.

"I'm jealous Wrex," Tali called back while bringing her own shotgun to bear. "Even if we beat Saren, I doubt that will get the quarian race back on our homeworld just like that."

Garrus sighed in mock irritation while taking another shock trooper down with his sniper. "I'm hoping you'll remember who got you to this cure later on. I like my mandibles _on_ my face thank you very much.

Wrex made a noise that sounded like a cross between growling and laughter. "As tempting as it would be to win round two, I know the score better than most. War with the galaxy only brings trouble to the krogan, and we've all had enough of that."

"You're a credit to your species Wrex," Liara stated while catching several platforms in a singularity field.

"I don't know," Ryan commented, tossing his gravity well plasmid into Liara's singularity for violently explosive results. "Saren has a reputation for lies and betrayal. Through deception, he's manipulated all the right groups into giving him exactly what he wants." The Splicer King had to pause and recollect his thoughts before he accidentally started describing himself rather than the rogue turian Spectre. "Just like posing as the Reapers' prophet won over the geth, perhaps this alleged cure is meant to do the same for the krogan."

Alex hissed in frustration while plucking a destroyer off the ground and dicing it with his claws. "There's no way to know for sure until we get inside. So let's quit wasting time and move!"

As they moved forward, the sociopath's mind was filled with worry. None of this made sense. He'd analyzed the biomass carried by his consumed krogan victims, both before and during this mission. They all had the Genophage virus, even the ones he'd consumed here on Virmire, further disproving the possibility of an actual cure. That aside, there was simply no way Saren could have done this without drawing massive attention to his actions.

The evidence lay in the infected biomass. From what Alex could tell, the Genophage had been modified, and recently at that. It now had set krogan population growth to pre-industrial levels. To do that, one needed first rate scientific geniuses, military tacticians, multiple spaceships, and the authority to discreetly unleash _illegal_ biological warfare. In short, the salarian STG was still _very_ closely monitoring the krogan for something exactly like what they were dealing with. If Saren's cure were real, the STG spooks would already _know_. They'd have known weeks in advance, and they'd have bombed this place into dust long before it even became an issue.

Instead, there was no prior knowledge of this alleged cure, and the STG team on site was horribly outmanned and outgunned. So either the STG got sloppy while keeping an eye out for their worst nightmare, which was unlikely…

Or Wrex was getting his hopes up for nothing. Alex didn't know which was worse, and that honestly upset him. To himself, he made a silent pledge:

"I don't have many friends. Liara and Wrex are on that very short list, and Saren has managed to hurt them both. For that, I'll hunt him down and butcher him if it's the last thing I do."

_Virmire_

_Frontal Assault_

_Team Jaeto_

The salarians watched in mixed fear and admiration as the sky darkened far too quickly for a natural occurrence. Suddenly, a spectacular display of lightning came down on a single distant location in ways that easily defied physics. So this was what Cole MacGrath was capable of.

Now with the satellite uplink clearly destroyed, the STG operatives moved forward under the direction of Captain Kirrahe, and Chief Williams. They unfortunately didn't make it far before geth heavy flyers descended on them like an angry robotic swarm.

Since that's essentially what it was, Cortana had tracked them in advance, alerting the Master Chief to take action. Sprinting at impossible speeds from Aegohr's position to Jaeto's, the Spartan unleashed hell just in time for the drones to make him the priority target rather than the salarians. Locking down his armor, the super soldier withstood their relentless barrage of rockets and machinegun fire.

It was perfect, the drones soon needed to resupply on fuel and heavy artillery, leaving the teams to catch their breath. With foot mobiles closing fast, Ashley made a quick decision.

"While the aircraft units make a supply run, we've _got_ to bunker down. They won't target just the Master Chief next time since they know they can't hurt him." She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. It sucked making her civilian boss run around like a headless chicken, but right now she needed the assist. "Cole, can you find where they're recharging and shut them down?"

"_Is the Prime Minister human?"_ The light hearted tone in his voice wasn't a joke or a feigned insult, but rather an attempt at calming Ashley down in the midst of a chaotic battle.

"Good, then make it happen. Master Chief, while Light Socket goes to work, we need to make sure the rest of the hostile forces don't overwhelm our position."

"I've drawn a line in the sand. They won't cross it." He disconnected the comm. and started shooting. Long since out of ammunition for his geth sniper rifle, the ONI commando switched back to his own weapons. As krogan and geth alike stormed forward, he took a shotgun in his right hand and a knife in his left, and stood unflinching in the face of a small army.

True to the "Stonewall Jackson Effect" that the Master Chief was inducing, enemies were either confused or unsettled by the total lack of fear, and allies were spurred on by the bravery. Soon, most of Jaeto and Mannovai's snipers were laying down fire from their entrenched positions. As STGs, they naturally had been trained in putting down krogan with quick and lethal force.

The Master Chief himself didn't stay motionless once the opposition was closer. Opening with a carnage blast that destroyed a geth juggernaut, he followed up with a quick horizontal slash that tore a shock trooper's head and neck off. Sidestepping an enraged krogan, the Spartan simultaneously shot it in the spine while offhandedly lodging his blade in a second krogan's face before shooting him as well.

It continued like this for any and all who approached the hyper-lethal vector. After a few minutes, several explosions were heard in the distance, and Cole's voice came in over the comm.

"_Now that's what I call clearing the air! Crap, they're looking for me now. Gotta go!"_ He cut the connection, but not before everyone heard the distinct sound of rapidly formed ice.

"He's crazy, but reliable," Kirrahe remarked. "Let's make this opportunity count. Hold the line men! Hold the line!"

They held every inch.

_Virmire_

_Base Underworks_

_Team Shadow_

"Why the fuck are these salarians attacking us?!" Alex yelled, backhanding yet another insane STG operative into the wall of the underground tunnel.

"You call this attacking?" Wrex scoffed. "I've felt more threatened by pyjaks than this lot."

"This is like what Benezia was dealing with," Liara observed as the last of their enemies fell, "only it seems much worse."

"'Worse' is putting it mildly T'Soni," Garrus drawled. "Your mother was at least civilized. These guys were practically drooling on the floor.

Tali's eyes widened behind her mask. "These are the men that Kirrahe told us he'd lost during recon! Keelah, what's Saren done to them?"

It was so low, they almost didn't hear it, but Ryan whispered a cold promise that Alex couldn't match on his best days.

"This is sweet, sweet mercy compared to what I have in store for that son of a bitch." Surprised by the venom in his tone, it took a moment for the squad to realize that their Commander was moving ahead without them.

Leaning against a door, he nodded at a security panel. "You're up Tali. I'd kick the door down, but then we'll set off the alarms installed."

After a moment, Tali was finished, but there was a catch. "The alarms are cut, Ryan. I might even be able to trigger them on the far side. It would make our path easier, but the Chief, Ashley, and the salarians may get hit hard."

Ryan thought for a moment. This kind of misdirection was something he preferred, but ever since this job had given him a damn conscience, making the call wasn't so easy. Sighing, the Splicer King made his choice.

"Just disable them. Alex will get bored otherwise."

"Damn right," the virus acknowledged.

Opening the door, there were more geth and indoctrinated salarians eager to kill them. Of particular worry was the geth juggernaut stomping quickly towards them.

"Oh your metal ass is dust!" the resident sociopath screamed, tackling the platform head on and pushing it back. The giant synthetic got a clean shot off, catching Alex in the head. The snarling, angry, partially disintegrated human face was the last thing its optics saw before video cut out.

The rest of the team finished mopping up the rest, leaving a salarian for Alex to consume for regeneration purposes. Initially, Ryan was concerned that doing so would make the virus susceptible to the indoctrination, but Alex laughed.

"My brain doesn't work that way." He put a finger to his left temple. "It's too loud in here for anyone to play mind games."

That actually made a lot of sense now that the Splicer King thought about it. That's probably why they were all chosen as well. Cole, like Kessler, was notoriously resistant to telepathy, as proven in Empire City. The "would you kindly" ordeal Ryan had experienced in a past life drastically increased his mental fortitude as well. Alex was an inverse hive mind. Naturally, there was zero possibility of him getting brain-jacked. And the Chief had Cortana, as well as experience dealing with the Gravemind. Nothing was getting inside his head.

"What do you want this time? I told you everything I- Who are you?"

Everyone turned in the direction of the outburst to see a salarian in a containment cell. He was twitching, exhibiting symptoms the Supernovas had seen from victims of other forms of mental domination. Still, he was talking, and that was an improvement over the others.

"Name and rank," Ryan demanded.

"Private Menos Avat of the Third Infiltration Regiment STG, sir!" the manic commando answered. "Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, sir!" Avat grumbled in frustration. "Never any questions from these bastards. Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd have said anything to get out and get some payback." His expression became desperate. "That's not too much to ask is it? A little payback?"

Alex was clutching his head in pain as the salarian talked. Everything was horrifically familiar, and yet just out of reach. This was the indoctrination, and it had to do with the Reapers. But what the hell did it fucking _mean_? What was the damn point?

Knowing he'd regret the answer, Ryan asked anyway. "What the hell have they done to you and the other captives?"

"Experiments," Avat hissed. "I don't know what for though. What could they possibly learn by studying the effects of incessant whispering on my shortening temper?! I don't know or care, but I need out before I end up like the others: brainless and gone."

"Too late," Wrex and Garrus commented at the same time. They had developed quite the odd friendship while flying all over the galaxy.

"N-no, no!" the salarian yelled. "I'm not crazy, not yet! But if you leave me here, I soon will be. And that would be bad, very bad. It's too small, and the noise just won't. _Go. __**Away**_! Whispering is _loud_ you know?" He was pleading again now. "I need to get out. Let me out!"

Recognizing that he was beyond saving and that probably all the captured salarians were, Ryan nodded at Alex before backing up. "I hate mercy kills," the Splicer King muttered to himself. "Alex will help you soldier. Everyone else, come with me." Tali looked at her Captain suspiciously, but Ryan just shook his head. He didn't turn around, and he silently begged the quarian to follow his lead.

The moment the door shut behind Team Shadow, Alex shifted to his whipfist. Spinning it like a flail, he carved through all the containment cells – and their occupants – in a single vicious swipe. "That's the best help I can give you poor bastards."

"I suppose it was a mercy of sorts," Liara stated morosely as the virus caught back up with them.

They fought their way up the stairs and over a catwalk, taking down more geth and indoctrinated salarians. Letting Ryan vent his anger on the enemies, it was pretty easy going all the way to a security office. With three possible routes, an elevator, and two doors, Ryan deployed a scout plasmid to identify a possible route. Both doors led to dead ends, but one had another batch of salarian hostages. It pained Ryan to think of how nothing could be done but let their death be quick and nuclear. According to the Noveria report, once indoctrination sunk in, there was no getting back out. Shoving down any feelings of remorse, he guided the squad into the elevator.

As they took it up, he saw that Alex had his thermal vision up and running. Virus and Splicer King made eye contact, and they came to a silent agreement.

There was no chance in hell that Saren would survive their wrath.

_Virmire_

_Base Interior_

_Saren's Personal Offices_

The krogan warlord entered Saren's room, eager to serve, but terrified of giving this particularly bad news. Before he could announce his presence, Saren beat him to it.

"What?" It wasn't a question, but a demand. A demand for answers to the pointless annoyance outside his base.

"Sir," the krogan saluted, "We seem to be under… attack."

Saren turned to face his subordinate, unnatural blue eyes shining in the low light. "I know that, you idiot. Who is it? And why are they still breathing?" It wasn't that he was worried. Nothing could what was coming, but that didn't make the efforts of the ignorant any less irritating.

"Salarians it seems," the warlord replied. "They should have already been slaughtered I swear! Instead they've hardly taken a loss while making a damned frontal assault."

The ex-Spectre scoffed, almost insulted. They had no idea what they were getting involved in. "Salarian STG in a _frontal_ assault? How far the Council's finest have fallen. Their operatives are infamous for striking without warning, long after counterattack is a moot point, yet they have the nerve to try _brute_ _force_ against…" pausing, Saren's mandibles flared in suspicion. "Other than their 'miraculous' survival, is anything else strange going on?" His voice was barely holding together

"The geth reported lots of weird crap sir, but it can't be possible."

The turian glared sadistically. "Surprise me."

"Lightning struck the comm. station, there's chatter of melee weapons in use, and a giant green suit of armor has been sighted at-"

**WHAM**

That was as far as the krogan got before Saren furiously backhanded the much larger man into the wall, killing him. "Incompetent fool! How could you miss the signs? It's _them_. It's them and the salarians were just a diversion!" Calming down after the moment of rage, the turian growled. "I'll deal with it myself. They've been a thorn in my side for too long, and before they die I'll make them understand. I'll drive it into their pathetic mammalian skulls how pointless every moment of their pursuit after me has truly been."

Setting out to do precisely that, the turian ordered six dropships of geth to take off and await further orders. He was sick and tired of these meddlesome freaks of nature, and this was the last time they would get in his way.

_Virmire_

_Krogan Breeding Labs_

_Team Shadow_

The moment everyone stepped out into the lab, they could practically hear Wrex's hopes and dreams for a krogan future shatter like glass.

"Clones," the battlemaster said slowly, looking at the back wall lined with tank bred krogan doppelgangers. His voice rumbled like actual thunder. "Clones. As if science hasn't caused us enough pain already. I should have known." (**A/N: I know that's not what the room looked like, but see my notes section at the top of the page.**)

Pointing his shotgun at the nearest incubation chamber, he casually pulled the trigger, ending not a life, but a lie.

"These aren't my people!" he roared.

Alex sighed as his friend went into a mad rant. "I've got this."

"How can we rebuild when this keeps ripping the krogan apart at the seams? Destroying our honor and spitting on the graves of-"

With as little force as possible, the virus slapped Wrex in the face to bring him back to his senses. "You're not doing those graves much good yourself right now! Krogan like using nukes right? Then pull your shit together and let's blow this place to hell with the one we've got waiting on us!"

Wrex never got a chance to respond before over a dozen husks moaned in unison. Even worse, or better depending on the perspective, a large krogan stepped out with an asari in tow.

"So the demons haunting Saren Arterius now come here for me?" he growled. Ryan silently motioned for everyone to step back. Things were going to get incredibly brutal in just a few seconds. "You dare interfere with my work? This is the glorious salvation of my species!"

"What was that about krogan scientists, Wrex?" Alex asked while striding forward. Biomass started writhing up and down his arms.

"What scientist?" the battlemaster asked, stepping out of the blast zone. "I don't see a scientist. Do you?"

Cackling like mad as he clenched his fists and dropped to one knee, the sociopath just said "Nope."

**BOOM**

A tendril barrage devastator ravaged the husks, tore apart the asari scientist, and left multiple holes in the krogan's body. He'd taken care to avoid killing the fanatical doctor, as he wanted some very specific information.

Grabbing the wounded krogan by the neck, Alex lifted him like paper. "You know these are clones dumbass! You made them! What possible salvation could this grant your species?" Not waiting for an answer, he shifted his free hand to a claw and drove it through the doctor's chest.

_Web of Intrigue Node 193_

_Doctor Droyas_

_Saren: "Now do you understand? The Reapers are machines; creatures of pure logic. Only the useful will find salvation. Provide my army, and the krogan race will be spared inevitable extinction."_

_Droyas: "You shall have it, Lord Arterius. This I swear to you."_

_End of Node 193_

"What the fuck?" the virus asked, though he didn't really expect an answer. Turning to Ryan, he explained. "Saren is using the return of the Reapers as leverage. Those who prove themselves 'useful' get to live, and the rest are wiped out."

Ryan frowned. "Naturally, the 'pinnacle of synthetic evolution' would think along those lines. Saren could sell that line, but without Reapers, it will eventually bite him in the ass."

Alex shook his head. "I'm less concerned about what he said and more about how he said it." The sociopath took a breath. "It was like he believed that shit himself. I've seen charismatic acting before, but that was the real deal."

Liara shook her head. "Saren has answers that we lack. It's time that we find those answers and end this wretched game."

Tali raised her shotgun in approval. "Keelah se'lai!"

They killed two more geth troopers on their way to the next section of the base, but rather than opening the door to a room full of trigger happy synthetics, they found an asari cowering behind a desk. It was pretty pitiful, all things considered.

"Don't shoot!" she begged. "Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late."

Not trusting her in the slightest, Ryan kept his gun raised. "Explain why I should care."

"I'm Rana Thanoptis, neurospecialist," the asari said. "But this job isn't worth dying over." She looked at the nearby dissection table. "Or worse." Turning back to the people with guns aimed at her, Rana continued. "You think the indoctrination only affects Saren's enemies? Sooner or later, he'll want a look at my brain too."

"Wait," Garrus interrupted. "This was supposed to be a breeding-" a glare from Wrex cut him off, "I mean cloning facility."

Rana shook her head. "Not this level. Here we're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least, that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible."

Tali shook her head. "You helped him and you didn't even know _why_?"

The glorified brain surgeon rolled her eyes. "I didn't have the option of negotiating. This position is a little more… permanent than I'd expected." She then got that look in her eyes of somebody clearly more interested in her survival than anything else. "But I can help. This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in." She was about to walk over when Alex stopped her.

"I don't think so, lady." Pushing past Rana, he used the codes that were in Doctor Droyas' mind to simply open the door himself. "Now that your bargaining chip is useless, start talking about what you've done here. What the fuck is indoctrination?"

She sighed in defeat. "That ship, Sovereign? It emits some kind of… signal, for lack of a better word. Undetectable, but it's there. I've seen the effects," she looked at Alex's winces of pain. "And I'm guessing you have too. Saren uses it to influence and even control his followers. It's called indoctrination. Direct exposure turns you into a mindless slave like the salarian test subjects, but there's collateral damage too."

Alex, now feeling the pain start to dull, asked for more. "What the hell does 'collateral damage' mean?"

Rana was quick to explain, a sign that she was thorough in her research. Then, certain phrases she used hit home with the Supernovas, terrifying them completely.

"It's like a whisper you can't quite hear. You're compelled to do things but you don't know why. You just obey. Eventually, you just stop thinking for yourself."

"It changes thought patterns. Over time – days, maybe a week – it weakens your will. You become easier to manipulate and control, but it's a degenerative condition."

"There's a balance between control and usefulness. The less freedom a subject maintains, the less capable they become."

"I think Saren's scared it might be affecting him. Indoctrination is subtle. By the time the effects become noticeable, it's usually too late."

Alex and Ryan knew exactly what she was saying. They had seen all this before with other Supernovas or on certain jobs. Isaac Clarke would mention the Markers and their horrific mind games. The First Civilization had their Pieces of Eden capable of both subliminal control and outright mental domination that reduced people to empty shells. Kreia and Jedi on both sides of the Force possessed the skill to inflict terrors on the mind with a wave of a hand. They'd even wiped Revan's memory and given him the identity of a Republic lapdog.

And now this indoctrination was just another name for those same concepts. Blinded by rage, Alex grabbed the pistol from Garrus' waist and stood next to Ryan. The two Supernovas fired on her repeatedly and mercilessly, continuing to shoot long after she was dead.

"That's for the salarians bitch," Alex snarled, tossing Garrus back his gun. Liara was shocked by the outburst, and the virus obviously saw it. "We take free will very seriously, as you've now seen," he explained, gesturing to the bullet-riddled corpse.

Ryan sighed, upset that he'd let his emotions get the better of him like that. This mission really was wearing him down at this point. "Shall we?" he nodded towards the elevator door.

_Virmire_

_Overwatch_

_Team Thunder_

Cole was tense. Reading into the history of his territory, he'd learned a lot of interesting things. For example, when people talked about werewolves, vampires, ghosts, witches, or anything similar, it was conduits they'd seen rather than magical creatures. Legends of the supernatural were just conduit sightings throughout the ages.

Now maybe Cole wasn't superstitious, especially when he went in and out of the "afterlife" between every job. That didn't mean he would ignore the occasional bout of sixth sense jitters when it hit him like a brick wall.

"I don't know what you guys are doing, but please be careful."

_Virmire_

_Saren's Private Lab_

_Team Shadow_

"Careful" was the last thing in their minds as Ryan and Alex walked forward, anxious yet excited.

As they stood there looking at the Prothean beacon that Saren had been hoarding to himself, they only had one word that seemed appropriate.

"Jackpot."

* * *

**And… cut! That's it for now. You get the big dramatic moments of epicness next time I update. Truth be told though, I have no idea when that will be.**

**I hope you liked this chapter, because I very much liked writing it.**

**Read, Review, and by all means, Enjoy!**


	39. Out with a Bang

**For all of those who have claimed that everything is "too easy" for the Supernovas, this chapter will prove that your voices were heard! Today, somebody dies!**

**Big important note here:**

_This is Alex's mind during the beacon's vision_

This is Ryan's mind during the beacon's vision

**I say this for reasons that will soon become clear. After the vision scene is over, don't worry about it. **

**IMPORTANT: My days of updating once every week are over! I have a full load of college courses, and none of them are remotely easy. If I try to keep to my previous schedule, I'll burn out, to say nothing of the quality of my work. Just be patient and accept that good things are always inevitably coming. **

**ALSO: Like the last chapter, I'm taking certain liberties with location. It would be stupid for controls to one of the two AA guns to stand right in Team Shadow's path, especially when disabling them was the salarians' job. So I've changed that around, giving Cole and the Master Chief more to do.**

**Summary: Conversing with an ancient machine has sent the Mass Effect Job spiraling out of control. Out of options and time, things only get worse with no light in sight.**

**Spoilers: All of the main games involved get heavily spoiled. Also heavy spoilers for Bioshock Infinite, the Pendragon Adventures, and possibly KotOR.**

**Disclaimer: *To lawyers* Your clients are in full possession of their entertainment media. I make no personal claims, nor do I profit from this work. *Lawyers leave in satisfaction while I grumble incoherently***

* * *

Out with a Bang

_Virmire_

_Saren's Private Lab_

_Team Shadow_

"Jackpot," the Supernovas declared.

Garrus sighed. "You two are going to do something monumentally stupid aren't you?" Ryan looked at the turian with a raised eyebrow, and that was all it took. "Of course you are. We'll make sure nobody walks in and shoots you while that beacon does… whatever it's supposed to do."

"Alex wait!" Liara shouted. The virus paused, curious at why the Prothean expert of all people was hesitant. She was looking at him with immeasurable worry in her eyes. "I know what the beacon did to you on Eden Prime. If that happens here, what then?"

Tali nodded. "She's right. You both collapsed from the first vision. We couldn't possibly get you to safety _and_ complete the mission."

Alex waved aside the concerns. "It'll hurt like hell, but I've got the Cipher this time. I can take it. How about you Ryan?"

The Splicer King steeled himself for what was to come. "My body will probably do something weird again, like those dreams everyone seems to know about, but I'll manage. We need to do this."

Wrex chuckled. "Tough talk, but I'm not carrying either of you out of here if you fail to back it up."

No further words were exchanged. The four aliens watched nervously as their "human" leaders stepped within the beacon's range. There was a humming noise, but it was quiet, unlike the violent rippling they remembered from Eden Prime.

Then it happened. A rush of energy filled them both and like last time, Ryan was lifted into the air while the much heavier Alex Mercer remained on the ground. Regardless of their position, in a matter of seconds, they were soon on another trip down the Prothean rabbit hole.

_Web of Intrigue Node 666 (complete)_

Welcome to Rapture

_This wasn't like last time at all. _Before he could only recognize the horror through the eyes of a Prothean. _Now there was a full picture beyond just that mindless destruction._ Though there was still plenty of that too. _As usual the vision was a display of merciless slaughter at the hands of the Reapers, but perhaps it wasn't in vain._ The Protheans may not have died for nothing after all. _Civilization was ended._ It was absolute xenocide. _But there was… hope?_ Hope that somehow involved the Conduit. _Hope that would either make them or break them, that much was certain._ They needed to stop all this madness before it was too late. _Because if the Reapers came back, __it was game over for the galaxy__._

_**WWWAAAAHHHNNN**_

_End of Node 666 (complete)_

Returning to the Surface World

Fortunately, they didn't pass out. When Ryan dropped to the ground though, his body was wreathed in a gentle, orange flame. Alex was clutching his head in agony, but he was still standing, barely. All in all, it wasn't the most pleasant sight. These were two of the most powerful men in the galaxy, and a mere dream had crippled them.

The virus, still in pain, steadied himself while Ryan cooled off… literally. They nodded to each other, indicating the "success" of their stunt, but before the next move could be planned, the entire room was filled with a sense of wrongness.

Running up the stairs, the team found that a giant red hologram had appeared in the center of the room. Only coming to the middle of it when on the balcony, the whole group hesitantly drew closer.

"_**Anomalies."**_

_Virmire_

_En Route to AA Gun_

_Team Mannovai_

Cortana practically exploded onto the Master Chief's HUD. "We've got big trouble, John! That ship from Eden Prime isn't just a ship. It's an AI of gargantuan size and capacity. Sovereign is _alive_, Chief. Alive and chatting up Team Shadow!"

"Calm down," the Spartan told his charge, but he knew it was likely useless advice. "Can you get into their conversation? Cole will need to know what's going on."

The smart AI flashed between various shades of blue and purple. "Ryan's trying to broadcast a signal exclusive to Supernovas. Likely for the best. We've got more experience talking with this kind of thing than Ashley, and she doesn't need the distraction."

"We'll fill her in later," the Chief said. "Just get us ears in that room."

Returning to her default color, Cortana took on a determined expression before making it happen. They didn't like what they heard.

_Virmire_

_Cliffs above STG Teams_

_Team Thunder_

Long before Cortana tapped into his dataphone so he could eavesdrop, Cole had known something was off. Maybe it was his conduit affinity for lightning. He doubted it, though it probably made it easier to notice the presence that seemed to weigh everything down. It was the same thing from Eden Prime. That damn ship was more than a Reaper relic. Ryan and Alex were about to find out just how much more.

_Virmire_

_Saren's Private Labs_

_Team Shadow_

"Saren's ship talks," Alex observed, sounding more amused than afraid like any sane person would be.

"_**Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh,"**_ the hologram boomed. _**"You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."**_ The disdain was unmistakable. It considered them a step up from dirt at best.

"That's a lot of 'hostility' for a machine," Ryan challenged.

"_**There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."**_

There it was. They were speaking to an eldritch machine. Sovereign _was_ a Reaper, not one of their ships. The Prothean visions suddenly made a lot more sense, but for that one answer there were thousands of questions.

"Trash talk my 'realm of existence' again, and I'll kick your cuttlefish ass," Alex threatened under his breath. It wasn't a smart thing to say, but the opportunity was practically handed to him on a gold platter.

Ryan cut in to prevent another such outburst. "Is there a particular reason that the Reapers wiped out the Protheans? Or is that 'too complicated' as well?"

"_**Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die."**_

"Speak for yourself," the immortal virus scoffed, grateful that pain triggered by certain words or phrases only worked once. The longer Sovereign kept talking, the more immune the Blacklight runner became.

Ignoring the interruption, the sentient ship continued. _**"We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."**_

Ryan couldn't help it. "What part of the evolutionary process called for a god complex?"

Alex facepalmed. "Don't even get me started." Megalomania was noted as an overly common theme for the enemies of Uniques and Supernovas alike.

"_**Your arrogance is irrelevant. The cycle cannot be broken."**_

"Cycle?" Garrus inquired, voice flanging. "What cycle?"

"An extinction cycle!" Alex cried out in realization. "Liara's theory was right this whole time. They wait for galactic civilization to reach its apex before wiping it out!"

Sovereign's tone was clearly mocking their ignorance. _**"The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them. The legacy of my kind."**_

"How generous of you," Ryan retorted. The revelation had definitely shaken him, but he wasn't about to let it show. "So why give us your toys just to rip them from our burning corpses? How can you be so damn old without learning to share?"

"You obviously haven't been to Tuchanka," Wrex grunted. He was also taking this surprisingly well. Though after finding his people's best hope of survival was another lie, he probably just didn't give a crap anymore.

"_**Your civilization is built on the technology of the mass relays. Our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire."**_ This revelation didn't have time to sink in before another was driven home. _**"We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."**_

_Team Thunder_

Cole gasped. They were called "Reapers" because they harvested the galaxy of its sapient life, treating it like a crop that grew for fifty-thousand years. The phrase "gardener of men" never rang so true.

_STG Teams_

"Oh my… Chief!" Cortana's eyes went wide, and her colors changed at blinding speed. "The Reapers are like the Halo array but they keep repeating the process! What kind of insanity is that?!"

Her Spartan narrowed his eyes. "The kind I plan to _end_."

_Team Shadow_

"Let me get this straight," Alex said slowly. "You let us pretend that the galaxy is a nice place for a while, slowly increasing in technological advancement. Then you show up out of fucking nowhere to burn everything and slaughter us like livestock?" Storming right up to the hologram, he began to scream, "WHY?! What could possibly justify that kind of sadism?"

"_**My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of-"**_

"Bullshit!" Alex yelled, angrier than they'd ever seen him. "Maybe you can scare your pet turian with that line, but I don't fucking buy it! As an AI, you follow logic, but I'm not hearing much of it right now." The virus crossed his arms. "Why not wipe out _all_ organic life? You'd never have to deal with these cycles again. For that matter, why make it possible in the first place? If you had been more thorough, there wouldn't have been any Prothean ruins for humanity to study, and we'd still be isolated to the Sol system, planet overpopulated, people starving, culture stagnant. Why the need to jump our technology ahead by centuries? Answer me!"

"_**Even among organics, you are especially irrelevant."**_

That took the wind out of Alex's sails just a bit. "What?"

"_**I see through your lies. I have watched and learned. You are anomalies, and no existing evolutionary pathways led to your creation. No design, natural or scientific, has produced your abilities. In the end, it changes nothing. Your interference born of perceived noble intent simply means you will die in a galaxy that you do not call home."**_

Oh _shit_. They were busted. The full force of that knowledge stopped all four powerhouses in their tracks. It was a terrible feeling to realize everything you knew about someone was a lie. It was even worse to be called out as the liar.

Ryan recovered first, opening a comm. "All Supernovas, Code Ravinia. I repeat: Code Ravinia. We've been _made_!" As the Splicer King's friend's looked at him in shock and betrayal, he pointed his finger accusingly at the giant hologram of Sovereign. "You're dead, cuttlefish! You and all of your kind!"

"_**Your threats are weightless. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."**_

**CRASH!**

The room shook as an explosion blew out all the windows. Obviously, Sovereign liked having the last laugh. If that wasn't bad enough, Ryan got to his feet and came face-to-barrel with Tali's pistol. Out of the corner of his eye, the Son of Rapture saw that Garrus was similarly "threatening" him, already knowing that pointing a gun at Alex was useless. Liara was pulsating with biotics, ready to decimate Alex if he moved an inch. The quarian was quivering, whether from rage or fear even _Ryan_ didn't know. Then she spoke, and the words cut like a hot blade.

"What the hell are you?!"

_Team Thunder_

"Code Ravinia? You have to be kidding me! Ryan? Answer me dammit!" Cole swore when it became clear that the Splicer King wasn't going to answer anytime soon.

The terrible "Code Ravinia" was an emergency alert phrase derived from the eponymous cult that Old Man Pendragon had to fight off long ago. These days, when the word was used, it meant that everyone on the job had been outed by a Supernova-class threat. The idea may sound stupid, especially since it shattered the trust of friends and allies, but there was a purpose to it. As terrible as it was for everyone they cared about to think they were traitors, it was _far_ more important to get the word out that the enemy knew their most important secret.

Then the number one goal was to silence that enemy before things went out of control. The truth of a multiverse in the wrong hands was enough to destroy a territory. The public wasn't ready to know, and the Supernovas had to keep it that way for as long as possible or they risked jeopardizing everything.

Silencing an enemy was easy, just pound it into dust. Regaining the trust of friends while swearing them to secrecy? That was the really hard part.

_STG Teams_

"Well it could be worse!" Cortana exclaimed as the Master Chief began gunning down the increased number of geth platforms that wanted him dead.

"How do you figure?" the Spartan asked, kneecapping a destroyer before blowing off its flashlight.

"The salarians don't know yet, nor does the rest of the crew. It also could have mentioned me."

"Our 'luck' continues," the Chief muttered, trading his shotgun for the assault rifle and charging into the fray.

_Team Shadow_

"_Commander, we've got trouble!"_ Joker radioed in. The Splicer King slowly tapped the comm. He was relieved that the word hadn't already spread like wildfire. There may be hope yet.

"You'll have to be more specific than that."

"_That ship Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you guys did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half! It's coming your way, and it's coming hard. You need to wrap things up in there fast!"_

"On it, Joker," Ryan said. "We'll head for the center of the facility and blow this place to hell."

"_Copy, Commander. I'll meet you there. Joker out."_

"You are _nobody's_ Commander!" Tali yelled, pressing the pistol firmly against her Pilgrimage Captain's chest. He made no move to defend himself. "You always seemed perfect, having the right answers at the right time. Humanity's greatest heroes? Try their greatest _liars_!"

"You're more than welcome to hate our guts later," Alex countered, knowing that their former friends' rage was perfectly justified. "Right now, we need to get the fuck off this planet."

"He's right," Wrex bellowed. The krogan had been in the know since Cole and Ryan became Spectres, so he was taking this in stride. "The truth won't matter much if we're all dead."

Garrus' mandibles flared, and an almost feral noise came from his throat. Turians really couldn't take betrayal, especially from a superior, but this… growling one last time, Garrus lowered his weapon. "Alright, you've bought yourselves some time, but when this is over, we want answers."

"The _real_ answers," Liara amended, biotics flaring brighter for emphasis before she let them settle down. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Of all the ways a relationship with Alex Mercer could have gone badly, this wasn't on her list. The asari had accepted his violence, his sociopathic tendencies, and the fact that he _ate_ people. But now, to hear that he wasn't from the Milky Way, let alone Earth, she was heartbroken.

"_All_ the real answers," Tali finished, pushing her gun against Ryan one last time to prove she was serious. She didn't know what to think about him right now. Had her father been right all along? They had been kind to her, especially Ryan, but was it all a lie?

"Done," Ryan agreed instantly. "You probably won't believe us, but we'll tell you absolutely everything. Now let's get moving!"

Begrudgingly obeying to order of a man they once trusted, everyone started heading back the way they came.

_Team Jaeto_

_En Route to AA guns_

"_The geth are turning from your position, Jaeto,"_ Kirrahe radioed over the comm. _"Looks like Shadow kicked a sensitive spot."_

As the Master Chief moved to intercept the synthetic soldiers, another channel opened up, and this one was far less friendly.

"_Tali just gave me some interesting news, 'Master Chief'."_ It was Ashley and she was pissed. _"I don't know what's going on, but I know you and Ryan sure as hell aren't Alliance."_

"Not now, Williams," the Chief growled. He was in no mood for the 'you lied to me' routine. Cortana was still a mess, the salarians were getting overwhelmed, and a sentient dreadnaught was coming to kill them all. The Spartan had never actively lied. He'd just remained silent, as was his nature.

"_What do you mean 'not now'?"_

Sighing, the Chief tossed a grenade before responding. "Marine, when the soldier who's been fighting for over twenty-seven years speaks, you damn well better listen. There is a synthetic horde trying to wipe us off the map, and if you expect me to fight them off and give you an explanation at the same time, you're crazy. Shoot the geth now. Ask me questions later. _Spartan_-117 out." The fact that he used his real credentials instead of the callsign "Sierra" meant that he was very serious. The Master Chief cut the line and went radio silent. "Cortana, monitor her comm. chatter, and keep our identities secret from the STG as best as you can. Of all people we don't want knowing, the Council tops the list.

"On it Chief."

_Team Thunder_

_En Route to AA Guns_

Cole ducked under a rocket barrage and returned the favor, tearing the geth drones out of the sky. A krogan was charging fast, but that ended once the conduit hit him square with a shatterblast. Dazed and bleeding profusely, it still took a pair of shock grenades to finish the berserker off for good.

There wasn't enough power for Cole to both keep fighting and move quickly to help the others. If he chose fighting, then he'd take longer to reach the action. If he chose to ice-dash or spark-step, then there would be no energy left when he caught up with everyone else. Either way, the conduit was screwed.

Suddenly, Cole's passive radar spiked off the charts. Looking to the distance, he saw a total of six geth dropships rising from the hangar levels of the base. "Oh shit."

That made the decision for him. Tearing up the ground with his next ice-launch, Cole was already dashing like a madman when he landed. There wouldn't be any power left in his body when he arrived, but he'd been saving one last trick just for this occasion…

_Team Shadow_

_En Route to Bomb Site_

"Damn!" Ryan yelled, noticing that the bridge they first came across was raised. There didn't seem to be anywhere to go for people that couldn't climb walls.

"Trapped," Garrus muttered. While he wasn't taking the betrayal well, he was a turian, and that meant he'd focus on the more immediate threat until the bigger issue of extragalactic meddling could be addressed.

"I don't think so," Alex responded, shifting to whipfist. Lashing out, he snared the edge of the bridge that had been raised on their first time through. Giving a tug, he pulled it down, revealing three krogan eager to kill them. Of course, given recent events, Alex was even more pissed off. Not even bothering to hold back, the virus shifted to hammefists and cracked each of the tank bred soldiers wide open. "That's right, come get some!" he challenged, old habits returning quickly in the heat of his fury. Wrex laughed in wholehearted approval at the display.

They rounded to corner and saw a massive defense turret in the distance. It was the one that the salarians were supposed to take down. Alex raised an eyebrow, impressed. If Blackwatch had packed guns like that, he may not have been so successful at making their life pure hell. "That thing could be a serious problem for our ship," he muttered.

"Like you care," Liara remarked snidely.

That did it. Alex drew up to his full height, and turned to face the three upset aliens. "Call us liars for falsifying out origins if you want. Hell, we pretty much deserve it." His head writhed with biomass for a moment, and he took down his hood. "But do not _ever_ say we didn't care. Never say _I_ didn't care. When this mission is over, you'll see me actually beg for forgiveness. That's how damn much we care! You're feeling betrayed, and hurt, and angry, and it's totally justified. But answer me this: How can I help if you won't fucking _let_ me?"

Several geth platforms had been drawn over by the sound of Alex's yelling, but nobody was in the mood for a firefight. Tali hacked the advanced hoppers, Wrex launched a carnage blast at the drones, Liara caught the platforms in a singularity, and Garrus put a sniper round into the optics of each floating machine. The hoppers, still hacked but now without a target, were put out of their misery when Ryan set them on fire with a snap of his fingers.

"I've never liked the 'good turian obeys bad orders' philosophy," Garrus drawled, "but if you're going to get us out of here, I'll play nice for now."

"But you'll have to earn our trust all over again," Tali stated coldly. "I want to know who I'm _really_ following." Deep down, she knew that this was personal. It was that Ryan didn't trust her enough with his secrets the way she did with him.

The Splicer King sighed. First Alex and Cole told him that, now it was Tali and by extension the rest of the crew. Nobody trusted him right now, and it hurt. He normally liked the feeling of isolation, but right now, it hurt worse than the nightmares.

Liara also gave in for the time being. "I don't know what to think anymore Alex, but you haven't let me down yet. Please don't start now."

Donning his iconic hood again, the virus growled. "Wouldn't dream of it, Blue."

Approaching another elevator, Alex cut down the occupants and they stepped inside, preparing for the final stretch.

_STG Teams_

_AA Guns_

_Team Thunder has dropped out of contact_

"Charges set!" Kirrahe announced. Everyone bunker down! Bunker down!"

**BOOM**

The entire wall gave out under the force of the flash-forged frame charges, and the salarians moved in with Ashley. Kirrahe's men were quick to deal with the first of the AA guns, and Ashley took Aegohr Team to deal with the second one. She didn't like being fed lies by the brass, and this time it may not even be from the brass at all, but she was a marine, and until the mission was over, the Williams woman had no intention of disobeying a superior. Her behavior once they were back on the _Normandy_ was an entirely different story.

The Master Chief had stayed back. Something had been skirting the edge of his radar for the last while now, and it was beginning to annoy. He didn't get the same gut feelings as Kurt-051, but he knew when something was off. For all the resistance up until now, they had taken their objective far too easily.

Then he saw the movement again, but this time it wasn't disappearing. In fact, it was multiplying in number. Soon, four signals were coming up fast. The Spartan issued a warning before drawing his sniper rifle and engaging active camo.

It was krogan. Three of the warriors Saren had been breeding and a fourth one, a warlord that could pass for an evil counterpart to Wrex. Deciding that one was the greatest threat, the Chief was about to take him down with an assassination shot. The krogan warlord was too smart though. The second he realized that phantom dots were appearing on his radar, he charged to the side, knowing that it meant the "Titan of Humanity" was hiding nearby. By then the Spartan had pulled the trigger, but the krogan's instant change in direction turned a potentially flawless headshot into a through-and-through flesh wound.

And while this would have been enough to kill most organics and even some synthetics, all it accomplished against the krogan warlord was sending him into blood rage. Sending the three younger krogan after the salarian teams, he charged full pelt at the Master Chief. The Spartan countered by using the jets on his back to propel out of the warlord's path before running to intercept the others. Now with four giant angry lizards to deal with at once, the Chief went to work.

What doubts Ashley had were much less severe after watching a single man stand in the way of four krogan for the sake of the rest of the team.

Like on Eden Prime, he manually overheated the sniper rifle and tossed it at the enemy forces. While the krogan didn't die like those geth shock troopers, they certainly wouldn't regenerate easily while being scorched by plasma. Taking out his regular shotgun as well as the High Five for simultaneous use, he prepped a carnage shot on the normal one before letting the nearest krogan have both barrels.

**BOOM BOOM**

The two overpowered blasts tore the clone apart, burning it beyond the ability to regenerate and destroying it too completely for secondary organs to be of use. The victory was short lived however, as the other two clones charged right at the super soldier. Expecting to crush him beneath their weight, they were surprised when jumped up and used their heads for stepping stones.

Now above his enemies, the Chief couldn't reliably protect the salarians, but the salarians also had clear shots at the krogan while he was well out of the way. The three teams of STG operatives unleashed hell on the warriors, occupying them and wounding them enough so that they could each be finished by a quick pull of the trigger from the airborne Spartan. That left the warlord.

The Master Chief landed, but nanoseconds later, nine-hundred pounds of angry krogan slammed into him, knocking away the shotguns. Grappling for a moment, they both reared their heads back and slammed into each other. It dazed the krogan long enough for the Chief to draw his knife, but it did cause significant loss to his shields. Thirty percent was left, and it didn't look like his enemy would let him recharge anytime soon. Kicking the warlord in the face, he slammed the knife into the side of his opponent's head, pulled it out, and repeated the act on the other side. Finally, the Spartan buried it to the hilt in the krogan's skull plate before using an axe kick to completely sink it inside the giant saurian monster's brain.

The Chief dropped to one knee, the first indication in over a month that he might actually be tired. "Hostiles down," he growled out, still reeling from the most recent battle.

"So are the AA guns!" Ashley yelled, currently respecting him too much to be upset. Whether he was Alliance or not, the Chief was, without a doubt, a grunt like her. Whatever was going on, she could trust in that single fact until there was time for the truth.

"_All right!"_ Joker called in. _"Nice work people. That's one less thing to worry about."_

"_More like six less things,"_ Ryan countered over the comm. _"Next time, I swear you're grabbing a gun and joining me when it's time to GTFO."_

As the radio buzzed with chatter of Kaidan, Ryan and the _Normandy_ crew setting up the nuke at the breeding grounds, the atmosphere became slightly more relaxed. It hardly lasted for a moment as three geth dropships came in from nowhere. They began dropping shock troopers and destroyers everywhere, along with two primes and half a dozen sniper units. The horde of synthetics began tearing the salarians to pieces.

"_Please tell me those ships didn't just attack your position!"_ Ryan practically begged over the comm.

"They've got us pinned!" Ashley responded. "We're taking heavy casualties." She swore loudly while dragging a wounded STG behind cover. "There's no chance we'll make the rendezvous point in time!"

"The hell you won't!" the Master Chief bellowed. "Get moving soldier!" It was a rare occurrence for him to raise his voice, but when he did, everyone knew to shut up and obey. The commando picked back up his shotgun, drew his pistol in his off hand, and dove into the fray. "Spartan time" as Kelly used to call it, was in high gear.

This turned out to be a terrible idea. Not only were the geth more than willing to ignore the salarians to focus solely on the Chief, but the dropships soon opened fire on him as well. Ducking under a prime, he wrenched the pulse cannon from its grip and turned it on the shock troopers. When that overheated, he slammed it into an oncoming destroyer, but in those few moments, he'd been pummeled from every direction at once. Against this many Nimbus and Nova-class combatants, the only option was to be overwhelmed.

Tossing grenades at his own feet, the Chief locked down his armor just seconds before shields went out. The explosions did a number on his surroundings, and it bought him some breathing room. This wasn't over yet.

"Come on Chief, get out of here!" Cortana yelled, refusing to watch her Spartan keep this up.

"Not yet," he refused, willing his body to keep going.

"This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," he heard over the humming of his armor. "Will somebody get these geth off of us before we lose the best soldier in the damn galaxy?"

**KKRRSSSSSHHHHH**

The immobile Spartan felt everything shake as _twelve_ separate lightning storms tore the geth and their dropships asunder. When the noise and light calmed down, he released the lock, and looked to see Cole MacGrath shining with blue electricity.

For emergencies, Cole had a trick that gave him a brief supply of unlimited power. The "karmic overload" as Zeke called it, was a kind of meditation. For about thirty seconds, he diverted power away from the brain's morality centers to use as fuel for his abilities. It wasn't safe, and it certainly took a lot of concentration, but it was a necessary risk at times like these when everything had gone to hell… more than usual that is.

The teams looked up at their timely rescuer, but the Electro-Spectre was far from proud of his work. In fact, he was actually scared. Dropping down, he ran up to Ashley. "We've gotta move. There are three more of those ships coming, and I don't have enough charge to take them."

The news was poorly received as Ashley shook her head. "We've got too many wounded. There's no way we'll make it to the rendezvous point in time!"

"Easily fixed!" Cole replied, his hands sparking up. Just don't let anything shoot me." Walking over to the downed salarians, he began using his pulse heal ability. It was unfortunate, but he could only heal them one at a time, having lost the area-of-effect version after the Columbia Job.

"More geth!" Commander Rentola suddenly yelled. Everyone turned to the other three dropships taking off from the STG's previous entry point, having left behind a small army of rocket troopers, shock troopers, and primes. Six primes to be exact, and twelve of each trooper.

"There's just no end to this!" Ashley groaned, firing but not really hitting anything. Cole saw that a distortion rocket was heading straight for the men he was healing. Knowing that a shockwave wouldn't reverse it, he simply jumped in the way and hoped for the best.

**BOOM**

It hurt like a son of a bitch, but the conduit was still alive. Shutting down his body's cry for a rest, he began limping in the direction of a power source. Cutting off from the action, the Master Chief practically used himself as a human shield for Cole, blocking anything from hitting his friend while the Spectre was too weak to fight back.

"This one's gonna be rough," the two "demons" muttered simultaneously.

_Team Shadow_

It was insanity. When they separated on Eden Prime, they had been overconfident, but their enemy didn't know what they could do. Now the enemy was smart, larger in number, and much more capable of planning for what the Supernovas could do.

In short, they were screwed if they didn't regroup. The ground team would meet the _Normandy_ at the AA towers after clearing it out, and the salarians would be brought on board. Then they'd swoop in, gather Kaidan and his group, and watch from space as twenty kilotons of nuclear power burnt Saren's facility into radioactive glass.

They realized too late that their plan had a massive flaw. Reinforcements weren't just after the teams at the AA gun. They wanted _everyone_, including Kaidan and the men with him at the bomb site.

"What gives?" Alex yelled as one of the earlier dropships touched down at the waterlogged zone they'd just left. "I thought Cole said those things deployed their troops already."

Ryan cradled his head in frustration. He should have seen this coming. "One of those ships must have been bluffing!" he announced. They wanted to draw as many of us away as possible, but not all of them actually deployed geth."

"But why…" Tali began."

"_We're being overrun, Commander!"_ Kaidan yelled over the comm. _"There's just too many! I'm activating the nuke before they disable it!"_

"What?" Alex screamed. "Don't be a fucking idiot Kaidan, we can still-"

"_The salarians didn't make it easy to disarm, but if the geth take it, we're screwed. If you come back to do it yourselves, then Williams, Kirrahe, Chief, and the others won't survive! This way, it goes off no matter what."_ There was a pause. _"It's done, Commander. Go get Williams, and get the hell out of here!"_

"No, that's not…" Ryan didn't finish. He suddenly looked lost. All of the Supernovas did. Bombs had at one point or another forced them into hard spots, and damn if it wasn't happening again.

"_Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it."_

"_From one roof hangs Trish, the love of your life. From the other, six doctors… Which is more important, Cole? The life of one, or the lives of many?"_

"_When the weapon detonates, and they think the infection is cleansed, they won't be looking for me. And when I consume you, I'll be able to withstand even this."_

"_Do you understand Ryan? Father was blown up right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do!"_

Clenching his eyes shut to block out the world, Ryan took a deep, calming breath. "Williams, radio Joker and tell us to meet everyone at the AA tower."

"_You're not- Ugh! Yes 'Commander'. I…"_

"_It's the right choice, and you know it Ash!"_

"Did I say it was a choice Kaidan?" Ryan barked. "I'm coming for you myself!" He turned to Alex. "Get them out of here. GO!" He didn't give the virus time to argue before flipping backwards and shattering out of existence.

Alex was moments from beckoning everyone to follow him when the walls shook. It was the other two geth dropships! They may have been out of soldiers, but they still had weapons. Bringing up his shield and tendril arms, the Blacklight runner looked at Liara once before leaping off the balcony and repeating his takedown from back in the Armstrong Cluster. The first one had barely started exploding when the second ship was already directly above him and dropping ordnance, knocking the virus to the ravine far below.

"ALEX!"

* * *

_Sea of Doors_

_Elizabeth sighed as the events played out before her eyes. She turned to Zelretch and shrugged. _

"_I suppose it was going to happen anyway. When humanity is on the verge of extinction, Solara and Alaya were bound to agree."_

_Zelretch cocked his head. "You act as if it could have possibly been otherwise." _

_Ignoring him, she strode to the desired door. Taking out a key that had already been in her hand, she unlocked it and stepped aside. The influence of Alaya burst forth and swept over her slice of infinity. Gathering in and around the Rapture Lighthouse, it traced back to Ryan's origins. No matter what kind of "beast" was unleashed in the process, the Reapers would be stopped._

"_Good luck brother," Elizabeth whispered._

_Zelretch laughed. "You know as well as I that 'luck' doesn't exist. Only probability."_

"_Well the odds have always been in his favor. Let's see if it stays that way."_

* * *

_Cole "Kessler" MacGrath_

_AA Tower_

There hadn't been a power source for him after all, but there were enough tech experts among the STG to make up for that factor. As they all hit Cole with overloads, it fueled the Storm of Elysium with enough strength to make a difference after all. Ready for battle, everyone was suddenly surprised by the drip of blood coming from his nose. Without saying a word, the electric man propelled himself off a stalagmite and into the distance.

This was only going to get worse before it got better.

_Jack "Rapture" Ryan_

_Bomb Site_

When the Torfan Tactician rematerialized next to where he'd thought Kaidan would be, he was far from happy with the sight. Three _Normandy_ technicians were dead, and Kaidan was bleeding out and surrounded by geth. But the geth weren't the worst part.

Saren was there, in the flesh.

A faint yellow tinge appeared in Ryan's eyes. "I've been looking forward to this!"

The turian wisely remained on board his hovercraft. "Don't be so sure, 'Commander' Ryan. Whatever you're hoping to accomplish, it won't even matter. Someone who isn't from this galaxy can't hope to understand." He scoffed. "Even the people that _are_ from this galaxy can't understand!"

Ryan didn't even flinch. He was beyond caring what people thought right now. If nobody was going to trust him anymore, then he'd stop playing nice altogether. "If I'm not from this galaxy, why do I have to bring you down to save it? Sovereign and his family of metal squids destroyed the Protheans and countless civilizations before them. You want to find this mysterious Conduit thing and bring them back? Did I miss something, or are you just that batshit insane?"

Saren rolled his glowing blue eyes. "You've seen the visions, haven't you? The Reapers cannot be stopped. Not by you, not by some green suit of armor. Not even by a walking thunderstorm or a nigh-invincible virus. Think like the pragmatist you claim to be, Ryan. Revolt is pointless. You will simply join the countless fools that tried and failed in the name of petty freedoms. Trillions dead," the rogue Spectre continued. "But what if they _had_ bowed before the invaders?"

Saren clicked his mandibles and delivered a pointed question to the increasingly unstable Splicer King. "Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

_THUMP-THUMP_

"A man chooses!" Ryan screeched. "A slave obeys!"

The force behind this outburst actually frightened Saren. "What?"

"Don't you get it dumbass? If you honestly believe that becoming slaves to the Reapers is perfectly okay, then you're already indoctrinated and you don't even know it yet!" Ryan laughed. "Isn't that what they do to their pawns anyway? A man chooses, and a slave obeys," he repeated. "I _choose_ to fight. Guess what that makes you, slave?"

"Do you think you can sway me with poetry, Ryan? Fight and you will die. Everyone you know and love. Everyone you've ever met. They will all perish!"

_At this very moment, the remaining members of Team Shadow were surrounded by geth. Just when it looked like they'd have to go down fighting, Alex Mercer broke through the floor with his blade at the ready. He was angry, but alive. Carving a path forward with a flurry of slashes, he beckoned the squad to follow close behind him. They were getting out alive, end of story._

"I thought turians put society first. 'Never jeopardize the team' and all that crap." Ryan shook his head and pointed at Saren. "If you're supposed to be the loyal one, then why am I saving my people while you waste countless lives to save yourself?"

_Now, while the geth forces advanced without end, the Master Chief engaged his active camo again. They knew he was present because of the phantom blips on the radar, but they didn't know exactly where. This made it a close range slaughter. Always catching them from behind, he would disappear like smoke when they tried to counterattack. This confusion gave Ashley and Kirrahe a chance to mount a proper defensive. They were still holding the line when Team Shadow arrived, pulverizing the geth from the right flank. The _Normandy _soon touched down, and they began rushing inside, carrying what wounded they could._

"The lives wasted are on your own head!" Saren hissed. "I'm trying to build an alliance between organics and the Reapers. I will thus save more lives than have ever existed." The cabal became quiet. "But you would undo my work. You meddle in affairs that do not concern you, and it will doom all of civilization. For that, you, MacGrath, Mercer, the soldier, and _everyone_ on your precious frigate will die here and now!"

The Splicer King raised a burning palm, but Saren chuckled. "Move a muscle, and my geth kill your friend over there."

"Do your worst, bird-face!" Kaidan snarled. Moments later, a curtain of biotic energy fell over Saren, smothering him and ripping his shields away. Turning to the source, Ryan was astounded.

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was hitting Saren with a biotic _reave_.

It wasn't enough to win though. Not only did it incur the wrath of every geth unit that had so far been standing idle, but Saren attacked the sentinel with his own significant biotic power. Broken and bleeding, Kaidan wouldn't last much longer without serious medical care.

_THUMP-THUMP_

Ryan said nothing as his eyes turned a shining blood red. Then he opened his mouth, and a noise the Supernovas hadn't heard for quite some time echoed throughout the region.

_SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE_

Cole heard it, and he immediately took out his dataphone. Rubbing a thumb over the back, where the flume symbol was, he sent a voice message for the higher ups. "To anyone hearing this in New Solara, who the hell brought back the Rapture Raptor?!"

"You're in my domain now!" Raptor screamed. Without warning, the water that flowed throughout the breeding grounds simply began defying gravity. It coiled around the geth at Raptor's will before he clenched his fist, effortlessly turning the helpless machines to scrap metal. Elevating the water beneath his feet, Raptor rose on a column of liquid until he was staring the turian in the eye.

Saren reacted with the skill he was known for, smashing Raptor in the face with his synthetic arm, sending him crashing to the ground. The column that Raptor had been standing on undulated beneath Saren's hovercraft before striking like a snake. It knocked the rogue Spectre off his ride, but the turian never hit the floor. Raptor caught him by the head and smacked him point blank with a sonic boom plasmid. When the turian landed, he was blown back into the air by a geyser trap and hit with two, three, four consecutive balls of fire.

"How does it feel, Arterius?" Raptor mocked. "To be beaten by a 'mere' human?"

"You're no human," Saren gasped out. "You're an abomination."

"Flattery won't save you now."

The beating resumed. Raptor broke bones and scorched flesh. Saren gave almost as good as he got, striking with his biotics and cybernetic limb. Raptor was certainly hurt, but standing in the water, it hardly mattered. Gripping the implanted geth arm, he twisted it a full three hundred sixty degrees before ripping it off. The turian howled at the indescribable pain.

Ironically, Saren was saved by the very thing about to blow up his facility. The nuke's klaxons began to sound off, distracting Raptor long enough for the cabal to release a massive biotic explosion that sent his aggressor flying into the nearby wall. Not wasting any time, the battered turian leapt back onto his hovercraft and retreated quickly.

Sovereign would know what to do. The Reaper would grant him the necessary tools to fight that monstrosity posing as a human.

Angrily tossing fireballs after his escaped prey, Raptor was suddenly hit from behind with a fifty-thousand volt wake up call. A few months ago, Cole would have found electrocuting Ryan to be very cathartic. Right now, it was a matter of zapping him back to the Splicer King's version of normal. Jumping down, the conduit landed on a hastily-erected stalagmite to avoid setting foot in the water. It may have seemed brutal, but Raptor was nobody's friend. He had no loyalties, and with a few possible exceptions, he had no regard for the lives of others. Not only was he a danger to everyone around him, the Raptor was a danger to Ryan, regardless of claims that he existed to protect the Rapture-spawn when the world became too much.

Grabbing Raptor by the face, he forced his way inside and attempted to drag the true Ryan persona back to the surface. "Snap the hell out of it," Cole ordered, "_would you kindly?!_"

Whether it was the words, the electricity, or both, the red disappeared from Ryan's eyes. He started to cough like a man that had just been saved from drowning before collecting himself and running to Kaidan's side.

The damage was bad. Far too bad for Ryan to teleport him back to the ship, let alone move him. If they tried moving him the old fashioned way, then they'd all die in the blast. Kaidan was fully aware of the situation, and he made the call for the both of them.

"I don't know who you are," Kaidan choked out, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "And I don't know where you're from." Ryan looked away in shame, and Cole just hung his head. "But I do know you're here now to save the galaxy." The lieutenant coughed weakly. "Promise me you'll get it done."

"I swear it," Ryan instantly replied. There was no hesitation. He wasn't promising for the sake of the job, but because his dying friend was asking him to do it.

Kaidan didn't say anything. He just gave a satisfied smile, content to let this be the end. Tears pouring from his eyes, Ryan sprinted to Cole, still balancing on his stalagmite, grabbed his partner by the arm and teleported them both away.

"_I'm sorry Kaidan"_

Kaidan's opened wearily. He knew that voice, but he swore he'd never heard it before in his life.

"Who… who are you?"

Kaidan watched as the owner of the voice appeared before him, extending a hand.

"_My name is Shepard."_

The _Normandy_ tore out of Virmire's atmosphere as Joker got them all to safety once again. "Everyone hang on!"

_**KABOOM**_

They all watched in agony as Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko of the Human Systems Alliance died in the heat of a thousand suns. Even if the mission was a success, there was no denying the hard truth:

Today, the Supernovas had completely and utterly failed.

* * *

**There you have it. The truth is out, and it's crazy from here until the end. The Supernovas have to fess up to everything, and you will be amazed at how that works. **

**IMPORTANT: I promise you here and now that I won't abuse the Raptor persona. It's something I've been planning for a really long time, and I ask that, as usual, you trust me. Please? Until next time…**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


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